After coming downstairs in the early hours of the morning, switching on the television and changing it to MTV2, the video for “Do or Die” – the last single from “Guerrilla“, the third album by Welsh band Super Furry Animals – came on. It was over quickly because the song’s only two minutes long, but even afterwards I could slightly remember the melody of the chorus, even though I had no idea what Gruff Rhys was singing apart from the title phrase. That was in 2005 or so. I didn’t hear it again until roughly seven years later.
“Do or Die” wasn’t even supposed to be a single. Originally the band had chosen the album track “Wherever I Lay My Phone (That’s My Home)” for release, but the label meddled around and promoted “Die” instead. The band weren’t very pleased. I am though, “That’s My Home” annoys me a bit; it’s very repetitive and doesn’t really go anywhere. It one of those tracks that I think I would have liked when I was four, and then listened to it later on in life thinking “What was so good about this again?”.
The track’s cool, man. It’s got funny lyrics about riding camels and eating tomatoes and a simple, catchy riff that alternates between two chords. The track becomes louder and louder from the instrumental part onwards before coming to a complete stop whilst synthesizer noises carry on and eventually fade out. Plus it has a really bubbly intro, helped along with those keyboards, that sounds like background music to the start of a Saturday morning children’s television show.
The Music in My Ears 