The Welsh psychedelic pop legends Super Furry Animals return with `Dark Days/Light Years`, their ninth studio album. Where previous albums have seen the band experiment with extra instrumentation, this release is full of songs based on grooves rather than ensemble composition. The band`s impish sense of humour remains, though, with track titles such as `The Very Best Of Neil Diamond` and `Moped Eyes` standing out. â 4 stars. A cursory listen reveals Dark Days to be considerably wilder than Hey Venus!, whose primary charm was its streamlined efficiency, showcasing the band at its tight, melodic best. Elements of this remain -- it`s hard to strip the Day-Glo pop out of SFA, and they do not deny themselves, or us, this candied pleasure -- but the opener, "Crazy Naked Ladies," makes it plain that this is a buoyant, electrified, psychedelic affair, as much about texture as it is about sound. In that sense, it has a kindred spirit in Guerrilla, the third album that found SFA getting elastically electronic instead of precisely pop, but if anything, the group`s two sides are integrated seamlessly here with the band shifting gears almost imperceptibly, transitioning smoothly from fuzz-flaked guitars to pulsating electro beats. This liquid ease distinguishes Dark Days/Light Years as latter-day SFAâ â AMG.
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