
Super Furry Animals Share Video for New Song “Bing Bong”
Song Available Digitally Now, To Be Released as a 12-Inch on June 17
May 13, 2016
Super Furry Animals
Britpop outliers and survivors Super Furry Animals have shared their first new single in seven years, “Bing Bong,” via its video. The single is available digitally now and will be released as a 12-inch on June 17. You can also buy a bundle that includes a download and a T-shirt featuring the artwork on longtime band collaborator Pete Fowler. The song is in Welsh and the colorful video features the band kicking a bunch of footballs (or soccer balls if you must) on a loop. Watch it below.
The song was originally written and demoed way back in 2004 in honor of the European football/soccer finals in Portugal, but then Wales missed out of playing after losing a qualifying round. Now with the European finals coming up again and the Welsh team doing well, the band has finished and released the song. It also coincides with their current 20th anniversary tour. “Into the studio we went, with wagging tails to record what is a rite of passage to many a band: the football cup song,” said frontman Gruff Rhys in a press release. “See also fine examples by New Order for England in 1990 and Primal Scream for Scotland in 1996.”
Rhys further explained the song: “‘Bing Bong’ is a Welsh folk idiom that we have appropriated, but its pronunciation has been partly inspired by the sonic motif of the talking robot, Twiki, in the 1979-81 sci-fi series: Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century.”
Mark James directed the video, which was shot in Cardiff, Wales by Ryan Owen. The press release explains the look of the video as such: “Immersed in a vivid landscape, the backdrop of blended red, yellow and green purposely evokes memories of Welsh ‘tramline’ football kits of the 1970s.”
There’s no new album announced (the band haven’t put out anything since 2009’s Dark Days/Light Years, although its members have stayed busy, with Gruff Rhys releasing solo albums and albums with Neon Neon, for example). But hopefully this is a sign that there could be a new album one day soon.
Below is the video, followed by the lyrics to “Bing Bong” translated into English (via Pitchfork), the band’s tour dates (including some U.S. ones), and the cover art to “Bing Bong.”
“Bing Bong” Translated Lyrics:
Oh! Glowing Moon
Oh! Moon of beauty
You peak every month
But I’m constantly peaking.
From Môn to Monmouth
To Abercraf
From Fflint to Penfro
From the Gwyrfai to the Taff
The ball’s like a pixel
In a game of Pong
Noise comes from our screens;
‘Bing’ and then ‘Bong’
And so significant
Is our cry
That no computer
Can control our flow
Super Furry Animals Tour Dates:
05-20 Swansea, Wales - Liberty Stadium
06-05 Warwickshire, England - Lunar Festival
07-14 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theatre
07-15 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall
07-16 Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
07-17 Ferndale, MI - Loving Touch
07-19 Toronto, Ontario - Opera House
07-21 New York, NY - Webster Hall
07-22 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
07-23 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
07-24 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
08-06 Glasgow, Scotland - Summer Nights Festival
08-07 London, England - Caught by the River Thames Festival
09-02 Dublin, Ireland - Electric Picnic
09-04 Portmeirion, Wales - Festival No.6
09-23 Liverpool, England - International Festival of Psychedelia
09-30-10-01 Margate, England - By the Sea Festival
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