Dark Days/Light Years

In many ways Britpop survivors and all-round arch-lunatics the Super Furry Animals are a willfully difficult band. Over the last decade Gruff Rhys & Co. have churned out scores of spacey, sprawling tunes that either hit the mark or leave you running for the stop button and Dark Days/Light Years (the group’s ninth album) continues on in that grand Super Furries tradition of carving out their own musical niche, seemingly oblivious to what’s going on in the world outside of their bedrooms.
If you’re not a fan of the proggy, trippy stylings of SFA, then Dark Days isn’t the album that will make you change your mind about them. Comprising largely of dislocated jams, the record is a tough one to listen to largely because as soon as they hit you with a beautiful melody or chorus to die for (‘Moped Eyes’, ‘The Very Best Of Neil Diamond’, Inaugural Trams’) they ruin it with some needless self-indulgent noodling not seen since the days of (gasp) ELP.
Of course, if you’re a die hard fanatic, there are a few tasty nuggets to sink your teeth into. ‘Inaugural Trams’ (complete with German lyrics sung by Franz Ferdinand’s Nick McCarthy) is a corker of a tune and ‘Liwiau Llachar’ is vintage Furries. Sadly though, Dark Days is a case of misses rather than hits and you get the feeling that with a bit of self-restraint they could have made the record of their career instead of releasing this bloated mess.

Key Track: ‘Inaugural Trams’