Album: Super Furry Animals <!-- none onestar twostar fourstar fivestar -->

Love Kraft, SONY BMG

Love Kraft was recorded in Barcelona and mixed in Rio De Janeiro by Beastie Boys alumnus Mario Caldato, who persuaded the band to alter their working methods and leave the songs much looser and less structured than usual. The results are much less mapped-out and deliberate in manner than Rings Around The World and Phantom Power, though ultimately it would be futile to try and rein in the band's natural eclecticism, which still bursts several songs at the seams as they try to fit in all the changes. A song like "Cloudberries", for instance, opens in contemplative mood with a backwards guitar break, then shifts gears abruptly for a samba section, tickled by feathery strings, then shifts again into a warped, melodramatic chorale lashed by bombastic lead guitar. It's simply too much for some songs, with both "Frequency" and "Walk You Home" seeming to evaporate before they've been satisfactorily established. But there are enough nice touches throughout to engage one: the ebullient sea-shanty waltz "The Horn", picked out in dulcimer and vocal harmonies; the rollicking Faces-esque good-time feel of "Back On A Roll"; and especially the mild West Coast close-harmony tone of "Ohio Heat" and "Cabin Fever", the latter perfectly evoking the fallen-angel bruised charm of Dennis Wilson's solo work.