Super Furry Animals - Fuzzy Logic - Review
← 808 album.png 810 →

critics' view

Recorded in the early part of 1996 and released that summer on Creation Records, it doesn't bear thinking about that Fuzzy Logic and its four accompanying singles were somehow thrown in with the rest of the Britpop rabble – despite sounding like nothing else around. Indeed, one could probably argue that its creators haven't sounded like anything else since either, but let's remember this was a time when challenging, independently produced music was afforded airtime on both national daytime radio and television. Where it was possible to switch on the TV at 11am on a Saturday morning and watch the colourful video for 'God! Show Me Magic' amongst a cast of other indie hopefuls alongside the predictable sea of dross. Whether a band like the Super Furry Animals would achieve similar mainstream exposure today is unlikely but during that spring of 1996 my love affair with them began.

Having already purchased both 'God! Show Me Magic' and its predecessor 'Hometown Unicorn', the anticipation for the release of Fuzzy Logic was understandabe. Those first few listens were akin to being transported into someone else's world. 'Frisbee' had us "drowning in designer ice cream", BBC weather girl Sian Lloyd got a mention in 'For Now And Ever' and some bloke called Howard Marks (forgive me for not knowing who he was but Mansfield was a very unforgiving place back then) seemingly appeared all over the place. Even the inside sleeve of the record invited you into their world. Their philosophy. A place where Isaac Newton would happily swap anecdotes with Ron Mael from Sparks. Where Bill Hicks and Rhys Ifans would take it in terms to feed Stavros The Hamster while Frankie Fontaine becomes abducted by aliens. A nostalgic throwback like the ones enjoyed by the Britpop clan they'd been unduly associated with this was not.

Musically there were traces of Hawkwind. Autechre. The Beach Boys. Wire. AC/DC. And that's just on side one. But more importantly when combined, this was the sound of the future. A perfect record encapsulating a time and place that was anything but perfect. Eighteen years of Conservative rule was about to come to an end but it was still bleak. Thatcher's legacy of consumerism and greed ruled and a change of office on Downing Street wouldn't change that. This was the sound of protest through the medium of music, albeit in a different context. Even now, Fuzzy Logic hasn't dated and certainly doesn't sound as though it was made 20 years ago.

Fuzzy Logic cemented Super Furry Animals status as national treasures for this and future generations.

Dom Gourlay
Drowned in Sound external-link.png

drowned-in-sound.png
Drowned in Sound, sometimes abbreviated to DiS, is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums.
drownedinsound.com external-link.png
twitter.png facebook.png





Care to share?

(if so, thanks!)

© The Jukebox Rebel 2005-2020. All rights reserved. Third-party trademarks and content are the property of their respective owners, and subject to their own copyright terms and conditions. See the website links provided in each case.