[5] Super Furry Animals formed in Cardiff in 1993 after being part of various other bands in Wales: Gruff Rhys and Dafydd Ieuan had played together in Ffa Coffi Pawb, whilst Huw Bunford and Guto Pryce were previously members of U Thant.

After Cian Ciaran (Ieuan's younger brother) joined the band after being part of electronic outfit Wwzz, they signed to Ankst, a prolific Welsh indie label, in 1995.

After gigging in London in late 1995, they were noticed by Creation Records boss Alan McGee at the Camden Monarch club, who signed them to his label.

Creation was also home to Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine and Teenage Fanclub, and had recently found massive commercial success with Oasis.

[9] The Super Furry Animals received some criticism in the Welsh media for singing in English, something which the band felt "completely pissed" about.

However, Super Furry Animals regarded "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" as one of their best songs and continued their efforts to clear the sample.

This ultimately cemented its legendary status and did much to establish Super Furry Animals as cult heroes, as the song contained the word "fuck" over 50 times and therefore received practically no airplay.

In early 1997, Super Furry Animals embarked on the NME Brats Tour and completed work on a speedy follow-up to Fuzzy Logic.

After a chance to think about their music and their direction, Super Furry Animals decided to record a new EP in early 1998 at Gorwel Owen's house and released it in May.

In a Melody Maker interview, Super Furry Animals said the "Smokin'" referred to smoking haddock, or to truck drivers' tyres when they're 'burnin' the roads'.

A dense production, with steel drums clattering out a calypso rhythm whilst Rhys sang an irreverent lyric about the El Niño-Southern Oscillation weather phenomenon, it was an apt taster for the new album, Guerrilla.

Recorded at the Real World Studios, the album retained SFA's pop melodies but took a less guitar-centric approach to their execution and was their most experimental work to date.

Layers of samples over brass, percussion and Gruff's melodic singing produced an album which took the freewheeling approach of 1960s groups such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Velvet Underground and updated it to the late 1990s.

The album swung from glam and garage rock numbers ("Night Vision", "The Teacher") to novelty techno ("Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)"), ambient indietronica ("Some Things Come From Nothing") and upbeat drum and bass ("The Door To This House Remains Open").

For the cover art, Pete Fowler created the band's first three-dimensional models, rather than the paintings he had supplied for the Radiator album and singles.

11 in the charts – and received a rare distinction for a pop record, being commended in Parliament for its efforts in keeping the Welsh language alive.

[11] 2000 also saw the Furries contribute two tracks, Free Now and Peter Blake 2000, for the Liverpool Sound Collage project, which was nominated for a Grammy.

They undertook this remixing of unreleased Beatles recordings at the invitation of Paul McCartney, whom they had met at the NME Awards, where they had won Best Live Act.

[12][13] SFA unleashed their experimental side on tracks such as "Sidewalk Serfer Girl" (which switches between light techno-pop and hardcore punk), "[A] Touch Sensitive" (gloomy trip-hop) and "No Sympathy" (which descends into chaotic drum'n'bass), but also apparent was an angrier edge to the lyrics: "Run!

The next album, Phantom Power, relied less on sound experimentation and proved to be a more stripped-down, back-to-basics recording in contrast to the orchestral Rings Around the World.

The band also selected tracks for a volume in the Under the Influence series of compilations, in which artists present the songs that they feel have most contributed to their sound.

Each member chose 3 track each - Pryce's selections were Dawn Penn "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)", Dennis Wilson and Rumbo "Lady" and MC5 "Kick Out the Jams".

[15] In August 2005, Super Furry Animals released their seventh studio effort, Love Kraft, recorded in Spain.

On Love Kraft this was no longer the case, as Rhys, Bunford, Ieuan and Ciaran all contributed songs and lead vocals.

On 16 March 2009, Super Furry Animals released their ninth and final studio album, Dark Days/Light Years, digitally via their website.

"[19] Dark Days/Light Years received strong critical feedback, with The Guardian writing that "it has more spark and invention than most teen bands manage on their debuts.

"[20] In 2010, Super Furry Animals went on what became a five-year hiatus, as bassist Guto Pryce revealed in an interview with Wales Online.

[21] Super Furry Animals reconvened for one performance on 29 February 2012 at Cardiff City Stadium before a Wales v Costa Rica Gary Speed Memorial Match, in tribute to the late Welsh footballer and team manager.

[29] In September 2018, the official Super Furry Animals Twitter feed posted an announcement[30] of a multi-disc set of recordings made at the BBC to be released on 23 November 2018.

In 2019 Bunford, Ciaran, Pryce, and Ieuan reformed without Rhys under the name Das Koolies, an alter ego SFA used around 2000 for an experimental electronic album that was never officially released.