Rock drummers, like lumberjacks and insult comics, aren't known for subtlety, as we typically observe from their solo albums and side projects. Case in point: the Peth, an effusive band of Welshmen led by Super Furry Animals drummer Dafydd Ieuan who conjure the voluminous bite of SFA's debut, Fuzzy Logic.
Featuring actor Rhys Ifans, who's purported to be SFA's original singer from way, way back, the Peth (Welsh for "thing") make what sounds like psychedelic rock recorded in a pub, all claustrophobic and ear-ringingly fantastic, after the pile-up of pints has turned drunkenness into a not-so-silent lucidity. They're are fraternal, funny, and often incomprehensible. (The vocals of Ieuan and Ifans, when not consumed by the mix, are run through an assortment of trippy effects.)
On the George W. Bush–hating "Shoot on Sight (Flock of Zeigheils)" and the self-explanatory "Let's Go Fucking Mental," they're a steamrolling combination of all of the above. And though it's an offshoot of Team SFA (flowering pop harmonies, Herculean guitar fuzz, short-circuiting electronics, hammered dulcimer — check!), The Golden Mile blows its own cloud of neo-psych smoke, a straight dope that ensures you'll know what hit you.
