More about: MorrisseySuper Furry AnimalsThe Smiths

It’s double-bubble for fans of Super Furry Animals! Not only have the Welsh psychedelicists announced details of an overhauled version of their second album Radiator – complete with a treasure trove of rare and unreleased tracks – they’ve also covered The Smiths’ ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’ in their own inimitable style.

First things first: that Smiths cover. This never-before-heard version of ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’ is an absolute hoot. An eight-minute total rave banger, you can imagine Morrissey’s upside down smile heading further south when he hears this – and that’s A-OK round these parts. For the rest of us, it’s exactly the kind of electronic mayhem that we’ve come to love from Super Furry Animals. So, get your glow sticks out, spread some Vaporub on your chest for that full 90s rave experience a cop a load of this:

The track was originally recorded around the time of 1997’s Radiator album. It was intended for a French magazine’s covermount but it never materialised for reasons that have become lost in the mists of time.

Speaking of the unearthed track, Super Furry Animals’ frontman Gruff Rhys said: “We wanted to translate the lyrics of The Smiths track into French, so I spoke to a French friend of mine, who was actually working in Manchester, hence the half-French, half-Mancunian accent on the spoken introduction. It didn’t quite work out that way, although there are elements of the translation on it if you listen carefully, so what we have instead is an instrumental homage. I can’t remember why it didn’t get released, but am glad it hasn’t been lost forever and Furries, perhaps even Smiths fans, can now make their own mind up on how it compares to the original.”

Meanwhile, Radiator will be reissued in re-mastered form on heavyweight double vinyl and 2CD and download package including the new, rarities compilation, Clarity Just Confuses Me, on Friday, July 28. Also included in the package is the Ice Hockey Hair EP.

More about: MorrisseySuper Furry AnimalsThe Smiths