A brief history. Ffa Coffi Pawb is a North Wales band from the '80s that sings in Welsh. You wouldn't think it to look at it, but their name phonetically translates into "Fuck Off Everybody." The band contained future members of Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and this release collects all of the material they put out on one disc. Promos were deployed, and reviewers replied in a timely fashion. Except me. I took one listen to this and realized it would be nearly impossible to be objective. Because I HATE, HATE, HATE Britpop. Sure I like Radiohead, but that's mostly because they moved away from that stale bullcrap. And even when they did it, they sounded edgier and more promising than most of what falls under that umbrella.
So "Fuck Off Everybody" was supposed to be a joke. But listening to their music, they inspire me to take their 'clever' little sentiment literally. If you like SFA or Gorky's, this might be of some interest to you. But should you buy it? Don't bother. Download the hell out of it, then bask in the mediocrity. There's mostly the scratchy guitars and drum machines of Jesus and Mary Chain, but occasionally the songs take on a middling T Rex vibe. All of it is immensely forgettable, if not altogether unpleasant. I'm tapping my toes as I listen, so there's your hypocrisy. But you know what, if "Heart of Rock and Roll" by Huey Lewis The News comes on, or "Party All the Time" by Eddie Murphy, I might start dancing like an asshole. That doesn't translate into a retraction.
This is dippy pop music that, while catchy, becomes awfully stale, awfully quick. It's sweet like a dish of dust-coated Canada mints in an old folks home. It's for the kids, should they never decide they want to come, and while they might out of some sense of obligation, they won't stay too long. And they'll take one look at the grayish pink tablets and decline the offer. A lot of bands sounded like this at one time. The Stone Roses had psychedelic '60s pop anthems like "Gweld Dim Byd," and they did them in a similarly authentic, competent fashion. But I'm pretty sure this sort of music is not only irrelevant but firmly exhausted in 2005.
I'm afraid that's as objective as I can get here. While I'm no authority on this sort of music, I know leaden when I hear it, and this music is as grounded in mediocrity as music (pop or otherwise) gets. The most interesting bit is at the end of track 16 (before it goes into six or so minutes of silence for some secret noodling) where the whistling intro of Guns and Roses' "Patience" is interweaved with their plodding, maudlin progression.
1. Valium
2. Allan O'I Phen
3. Breichiau Hir
4. Gafael Yn Dynn
5. Sega Segur
6. Arwynebol Melyn
7. Lluchia Dyfflachlwck Drosta I
8. Gweld Dim Byd
9. Llosgi 'N Nhy I Lawr
10. Ffarout
11. Gweneud Fy Mhen I Fewn
12. Gwn
13. Hydref Yn Sacramento
14. Colli'r Goriad
15. Mynd I Lawr
16. Dw In Troin Ffrwyth
More about: Ffa Coffi Pawb
