[2] Some of singer Gruff Rhys's lyrics were lifted from a speech made by Tony Blair at the Labour Party Conference in 2004.
The first, directed by Palumbo & Coch, features a fluorescent cityscape with the band and a monster with their 'SFA' logo, appearing between the translucent buildings while the second, directed by Aurelien and Florian Marrel,[6][7] features a fictional sideways-scrolling arcade beat 'em up in the style of Metal Slug and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker.
[2] "Lazer Beam" was recorded in Figueres, Spain, and mixed in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro along with the rest of the Love Kraft album.
[8] Elements of the song's backing track were built from a rough demo the band had begun working on during the recording of Guerrilla called "John Spex", which was brought up again for the Rings Around the World sessions.
The track starts with 24 seconds of heavily effected guitar, drums and "bizarre sound effects" before the first verse begins,[4] rising in volume as a looping bass line joins the mix and Gruff Rhys speaks the lines "This song is daunted by a radical new vision, no more imperial colonial bastards, no more romantic comedies, this is a fanfare introduction to a high-powered, purposeful theme.
[4][13] musicOMH thought "Lazer Beam" to be an "absolute powerhouse of a song" and the Sunday Herald saw the track as one of the few "great moments on Love Kraft".
[5] The "psychedelic" nature of the track was commented on by several reviewers with Mojo describing it as "acid-carnivalesque",[10][17] The Times stating that it is a "kids TV theme heard through an acid-pop filter",[18] The Observer claiming it sounded like "a Jesus Christ Superstar outtake gone delightfully right",[19] and BBC Wales calling it "cosmic funk".
Both feature the radio edit of the track The "Tron-inspired" Palumbo & Coch directed video starts with the camera rushing across a fluorescent blue sea,[6][16] then a road towards "a cityscape which looks like something between downtown Tokyo and a graphic equalizer".
[6] Gruff Rhys appears on a floating electronic billboard singing the first verse and is joined by other members of the band playing along with the track.
More shots of the band and the computer generated city follow before the monster reappears during the second chorus, this time with electric bolts shooting from his body.
More shots of the band, cityscape and 'SFA' monster follow until the final verse, when the view returns to the road from the beginning of the video.
[7] 'Arcade mode' is selected then two characters are chosen from a menu featuring four Super Furry Animals band member lookalikes before a brief 'How to play' screen is shown.
The hangar explodes and disappears before flying out of the water, now with mechanical claws attached, and the video returns again to live action footage of the Super Furries playing the game.
More live action footage of the band follows with Huw Bunford raising his hands in triumph at completing the game and Guto Pryce being zapped by a laser.