Album Review
Dark Days / Light Years - Super Furry Animals
By Robin Banks
Returning to charm all and sundry with their unrivalled musical genius after a two-year hiatus filled with numerous side projects, SFA have delivered a groovy, riff-laden belter of record that effortlessly combines the very best of musical worlds including psychedelic rock, glam rock, Turkish pop (yes, that’s Turkish pop!!!), Krautrock and acoustic folk with great aplomb.
Listening to Dark Days/Light Years, it’s heartening to discover that even nine fantastic albums down albums down the line, the Furries are still dedicated to crafting life-affirming music with their inexhaustible sprit of adventure and cavalier, punk rock approach undiminished by the ravages of time.
Like your typical SFA albums, Dark Days/Light Years arrives as an immaculately conceived, wholly accessible entity complete with easy-on-the-ear glossy production and interesting ideas aplenty. But while their songs are still typically melodic, there’s definitely more emphasis on the sonics and sound effects in this new record compared to their previous work.
Indeed, this time around, SFA have chosen to side step the lush orchestration and traditional songwriting that typified their last few albums in favour of a more linear, groove orientated listening experienced.
So instead of the usual lashings of impeccably arranged strings, beautiful Beach Boys type melodies and sad eyed epic ballads, what you get on Dark Days / Light Years are stripped down, guitar and electronica workouts with the FX pedals turned up, riffs and grooves explored to the max and not a pedal steel in sight.
Those who have thrilled to the group’s brilliantly executed orchestral ballads over the years might be slightly put off by the knowledge that Dark Days/Light Years is devoid of any such concessions to the craft. But they really needn’t fret too much because as with all SFA albums, there are more than enough kick arse tunes to go around. Quality control is something that SFA know better than most after all.
Right from the off, Dark Days/Light Years comes across as something of a stylistic departure for the group and that vibe of playful experimentation is skilfully sustained throughout the record, without ever veering into self-indulgence mind.
Sprawling opener ‘Crazy Naked Girls’ starts off like a raucous house party before moving into an infectious dance punk opening coda where singer Gruff Rhys implores us to “take no shit, we got to get a grip” in a cracked falsetto. After which the song veers into a headbanging guitar freak out that echoes Led Zeppellin with its monolithic riffing.
Elsewhere, the ultra cool ‘Moped Eyes’ - surely a front-runner to become the album’s next single - is a slinky, neon lit, groovy seducer of a tune that recalls Bowie in his plastic soul pomp while ‘Inaugural Trams’ is a faintly sinister but catchy as hell homage to the joys of Krautrock complete with a Teutonic rap from Franz Ferdinand’s Nick McCarthy.
Further along, the glam stomp of ‘Inconvenience’ thrills and amuses with its lyrical flair - “Inconvenience, Tory scum, Inconvenience, stole all my fun“ - and monster chorus while ‘Cardiff in the Sun’ unfurls its shimmering melodies and trippy sound effects in the most elegant and psychedelic of ways.
Dark Days/Light Years may have shunned the band’s trademark orchestral balladry, traditional song writing and concise pop in favour of something a little more abstract and psychedelic but the end result still manages to thrill and entertain. Roll on album number 10!
Rating: 
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