Hey Venus!
by Super Furry Animals

Album details

US: 22 January 2008
UK: 27 August 2007 on Rough Trade

The relatively brief, David Newfield-produced "Hey Venus!" is the eighth studio album for the quirky Welsh indie band led by Gruff Rhys. It is also the Super Furries’ first release for Rough Trade, and it may be part one of a two-part series (although with SFA, you never know).

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The critical consensus

"Once again they have served up a record that both baffles and inspires," indicates the BBC, describing Hey Venus–or any SFA album, for that matter. The Beeb adds, however, that the new disc is "right up there with some of their best material." Village Voice indicates that "there’s a newfound depth of feeling" on what is "their most concise and color-saturated work yet." The Guardian finds an album that "is stuffed full of sublime melodies, catchy choruses and vivid pyschedelia," while Spin calls it uncharacteristically "unfussy," adding that "the lower-key approach pays off." Drowned In Sound admires the "jaw-dropping" production, and says that the only fault is that the album "breaks no new ground."

Naturally, with a band eight albums in, you can expect to see phrases like "return to form" pop up in reviews, and Hot Press is one publication suggesting as much, calling Hey Venus "a stirring throw-back to their Radiator/Guerilla glory days." Likewise, Dotmusic labels it "among the greatest things they’ve ever done," while The Independent states that the Furries have recorded "an album finally fit to challenge Rings Around the World and Phantom Power as their most satisfying work." Stylus, however, comes to the opposite conclusion, indicating that Hey Venus is "a good record of classy pop/rock songs, arranged and produced well, shot through with a degree of personality and skill, and almost completely lacking in the inspired, eclectic madness which made Radiator and Guerilla so damn good." And Uncut similarly labels it their "least adventurous" album and, consequently, a "minor disappointment."

Q lables Hey Venus "a missed opportunity," while The Observer deems it "a pleasant record that’s lacking in personality."The BBC Collective calls Hey Venus "as exciting and affecting as bits of warm seaweed sloshing around in your trunks," which is to say–well, let’s just call it a mixed review, with the disc slotting into the "fans only" category. Gigwise, however, says that newcomers are welcome: "You won’t find an easier album to get into this year, whether you’re a loyal fan to SFA or not."

For all of Love Kraft’s expansive forays into changing scenery, Hey Venus! is happy to be a half-hour saunter along the beach. A beach with purple sand. And a caramel sea.

- David Welsh, MusicOMH

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. Gateway Song
2. Run Away
   
   
3. Show Your Hand
4. Gift That Keeps Giving
5. Neo Consumer
6. Into The Night
7. Baby Ate My Eightball
8. Carbon Dating
9. Suckers
10. Battersy Odyssey
11. Let The Wolves Howl At The Moon

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site
• SFA @ MySpace