Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy or a complete accident, but Welsh psychedelic popsters, Super Furry Animals, have become a reflection of their own name. After a decade of using the moniker, the band commissioned golden-haired, furry outfits for the video of their single, "Golden Retriever," taken from the new album, Phantom Power. "The idea sort of grew from a video we had planned at the start of the year where we were supposed to go to Iceland, but that didn't end up happening," says SFA's keyboardist and electronics guru Cian Ciaran.
Instead, the song gave the suits new life and another feature was added to their already fascinating portfolio of creative accomplishments. "We still carried on with the idea of these suits where the hair is supposed to grow and take over," explains Ciaran, describing the video, where the shrunken quintet performs in a cardboard box, while a much larger retriever peeks in.
Super Furry Animals have also included the suits as a crowd-pleasing gimmick in their already ingenious concerts. "The suits looked so good that we have taken them on tour with us through the summer." Yet with the band playing festivals in the summer heat, they are rather hot to wear while performing. "We only play in them for the last two minutes, so it's okay up there for a short amount of time."
And what about the inspiration for the song do they know any super, furry golden retrievers that moved them to write it? Ciaran takes a few seconds, thinks it over, and replies vaguely with, "I'm not sure exactly. I think Gruff has a friend who owns two retrievers, but we also used it because the retriever is the second most popular dog in the States as well, after the black labrador."
Instead, the song gave the suits new life and another feature was added to their already fascinating portfolio of creative accomplishments. "We still carried on with the idea of these suits where the hair is supposed to grow and take over," explains Ciaran, describing the video, where the shrunken quintet performs in a cardboard box, while a much larger retriever peeks in.
Super Furry Animals have also included the suits as a crowd-pleasing gimmick in their already ingenious concerts. "The suits looked so good that we have taken them on tour with us through the summer." Yet with the band playing festivals in the summer heat, they are rather hot to wear while performing. "We only play in them for the last two minutes, so it's okay up there for a short amount of time."
And what about the inspiration for the song do they know any super, furry golden retrievers that moved them to write it? Ciaran takes a few seconds, thinks it over, and replies vaguely with, "I'm not sure exactly. I think Gruff has a friend who owns two retrievers, but we also used it because the retriever is the second most popular dog in the States as well, after the black labrador."
