SFA ~ Hey Venus!

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 1:55 pm

The new SFA leaked recently. If anyone else here has it, I've love to know your thoughts on it. I just listened to it this morning for the first time, so I'm going to hold back until I've had more time with it.

warmgun. · Post by **warmgun.** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 3:14 pm

Really keen to hear this one...

Love Kraft had a couple of stand-out tracks, and while a I still think of it as a good album, it's far from my favourite SFA - that title would probably go to either Phantom Power or Radiator.

Hopefully this one will impress me a little bit more.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the album once you've had a proper listen!

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:31 pm

For now I can say that it's much more uptempo than Love Kraft, which I think is a good thing. It's more of a pop album. Gruff seems to have written and sung the majority of it. I don't think I heard Bunf or Guto on lead vocals anywhere. Someone from SFA was quoted as saying that it's a "speaker-blowing" album. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but it certainly is upbeat. I'm really digging it so far. As usual, the overall production is excellent, too.

warmgun. · Post by **warmgun.** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:43 pm

Well, I'm happy to hear that it's primarily Gruff singing again.

In theory, the idea of letting the others sing was a good one, but I think that it was one of my main problems with Love Kraft... To me, Gruff is the voice of SFA...

Oh, have you seen the artwork for Hey Venus! ?

http://superfurry.org/

It's a pretty radical change of direction... I wonder if Fowler is responsible this time around? Something tells me no.

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:03 pm

No, Fowler didn't do the art for this one. A famous Japanese artist did it (Keiichi Tanaami). You can read about him here:

http://www.shift.jp.org/en/archives/200 ... _1095.html

Personally, I don't like the sleeve. It's really gaudy. Fowler's stuff always has an element of silliness, but it's also classy in a way.

I listened to the album again last night and I don't think Gruff sings lead on "Battersea Odyssey," but I think that's the only one. It's a great song, though. I'm really into this album. I liked Love Kraft, but this one is a lot easier to get into.

greatape · Post by **greatape** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:20 pm

Whenever I see the title I keep thinking of That Petrol Emotion circa 1989.

warmgun. · Post by **warmgun.** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:40 pm

Thanks for the info on the artist. Maybe by knowing something about him, I'll be able to appreciate the cover a little more... maybe

Agreed about Fowler. I think he's done some great stuff for them over the years and has been a driving force when it comes to their more visual side. I always look forward to what he/they have in store...

Having said that, again not to be too critical of Love Kraft, but I was a little let down by that artwork - it felt kind of unfinished. Maybe they realised that it was time for a change.

Anyway, back to the music - I'll have a look around for the album over the weekend!

burningwheel · Post by **burningwheel** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:13 pm

greatape wrote:Whenever I see the title I keep thinking of That Petrol Emotion circa 1989.

great band!

jack white · Post by **jack white** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 5:05 pm

Love Kraft is their best record.
and just about remains so after only a handful of listens to Hey Venus.

but this is special too. more expansive, yet more cohesive and consistant, that Love Kraft: it just maybe doesn't quite reach the majestic heights of that record (be it over familiarity or maybe just the material, i can't yet say). it still is a thing of wonder and beauty. a magnificent feat made all the more orgasmic by the fact that so long into their career they've managed to make not only two albums (somehow) greater than their catalogue up to this stage, but candidates for those 'greatest albums ever' polls. truly an absolute treasure of a band, and this and Love Kraft will make me love them forever and ever. marvellous.

moop · Post by **moop** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 8:19 pm

jack white wrote:Love Kraft is their best record.
and just about remains so after only a handful of listens to Hey Venus.

can't wait to hear it...
i don't agree about love kraft being their best, but then that's a testament to their rich/diverse back-catalogue. on the way to glasto we were listening to fuzzy logic in the car. i'd forgotten what an amazing record it was. it also meant it was particularly special when they played 'god! show me magic'... to think i bought that record on the day of release and was initially disappointed because they didn't use the single mix of something for the weekend!

my favourite record of theirs is probably Radiator, though perhaps that's more of a sentimental judgement...i haven't listened to it in a hell of a long time. either way, SFA, for now and ever!

ps. - have you guys checked out gruff's solo stuff? he was soooooooo good headlining the park on the sunday inside his giant tv.

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:38 pm

Gruff's newest solo album, Candylion, is excellent. The first one was so-so, but this new one has been on heavy rotation for me since it came out. I definitely recommend it.

It's hard to compare Love Kraft to Hey Venus, they're so different. I think it's cool that they went back to basics with HV, if only to a certain degree.

warmgun. · Post by **warmgun.** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:58 pm

Candylion is fantastic - some really solid songs - not too much throw-away stuff, unlike on the first solo album.

I'm really hoping to catch one of his shows on the N.A. tour this fall. I've seen some clips on YouTube and they look like a whole lot of fun. What's this about a giant t.v.?

I actually listened to Love Kraft a number of times in the past couple of days and I definitely think it's getting better with repeat listenings - it holds together really well, actually.

My thoughts on Hey Venus! to follow...

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:00 pm

Love Kraft is a great record, but it did take me some time to get into it. Atomik Lust is gorgeous. Also, I personally think Lazer Beam was a better lead-off single than Show Your Hand. However, Hey Venus is instantly likeable. The whole thing is so catchy.

ash · Post by **ash** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:13 am

TheWarmth wrote:The new SFA leaked recently. If anyone else here has it, I've love to know your thoughts on it.

I remember reading somewhere a long, long time ago about SFA's fairly permissive attitude to filesharing/downloading/etc - one of the few relatively high profile acts who don't toe the label line and acknowledge that the internet can actually help a band rather than harm it. I've since tried to find said interview(s) without any luck - anyone else come across this?

Me, I'll be downloading the album asap, and then buying the 12" as soon as it hits these shores.

warmgun. · Post by **warmgun.** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:07 pm

TheWarmth wrote:Hey Venus is instantly likeable. The whole thing is so catchy.

Agreed! Now that I've finally heard it a couple of times, I think it's fantastic!

I hear traces of all of their albums in it... but mainly Radiator - which is a really good thing! Especially on songs like Neo Consumer, Baby Ate My Eightball and a couple of others... something about the layered vocals and short, punchy songs!

jack white · Post by **jack white** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 6:22 pm

Suckers - song o' the year (unless Jason gets Sitting On Fire officially released...)

Spiritualized

SFA ~ Hey Venus!

SFA ~ Hey Venus!

Re: SFA ~ Hey Venus!