Ice Hockey Hair
| Ice Hockey Hair | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| EP by Super Furry Animals | ||||
| Released | 25 May 1998 | |||
| Recorded | 1997–1998 at Grassroots, Cardiff and Orinonco Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 17:05 | |||
| Label | Creation Records | |||
| Producer | Gorwel Owen, Super Furry Animals | |||
| Super Furry Animals chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Melody Maker | (favourable) |
| NME | (very favourable) |
| Vox | (very favourable) |
Ice Hockey Hair is an EP by the Welsh alternative rock band Super Furry Animals, released in 1998. The record contains four songs which the band felt did not fit in with either their previous album, 1997's Radiator, or its follow-up Guerrilla. The title track refers to an alternative name for the mullet hairstyle. The EP's opening song, "Smokin'", was commissioned by British television station Channel 4 for a programme about sloth presented by Howard Marks. "Ice Hockey Hair" was later included on 'greatest hits' compilation Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1, issued in 2004, while "Smokin'" appeared on 1998's B-side and rarities compilation Out Spaced.
The EP received mostly positive reviews, being awarded 'single of the week' by the NME, and appearing at number two in the magazine's Single of the Year list for 1998. The record also appeared in the 1998 single of the year lists issued by both the Melody Maker and Select. Promotional music videos were issued for both "Ice Hockey Hair" and "Smokin'" and are included on the DVD version of Songbook.... The former was directed by Daf Palfrey while the latter was directed by Peter Gray.
The first track on the EP, "Smokin'", was commissioned by British television station Channel 4 for a programme about sloth presented by Howard Marks as part of a series on the seven deadly sins. The band went into Grassroots, a community recording studio in Cardiff, in June 1997 and looped a sample of the Black Uhuru track "I Love King Selassie", playing along and writing "Smokin'" "completely spontaneously". According to singer Gruff Rhys the song is "really light and up" as a result of being recorded in the summer. The track's lyrics refer to smoking cannabis, with Rhys stating that it "seems ridiculous that you can't do what you want with a plant that grows naturally" in reference to the drug's illegal status in many countries. Rhys has claimed that he does not consider the track to be subversive, however — it is about the band's own drug use and he doesn't "expect everyone who buys the record to do the same. They'd be quite sad if they did".
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