****The ninth album from the Welsh wizards is another joyous romp through the genres. Dark Days/Light Years is influenced by the sounds of psychedelia, glam rock, folk and Krautrock, the result of which is an intriguing hotch potch of whimsical new ditties.
SFA remain appealing as a result of their relentlessly innovation. Side projects abound and yet despite the incredible quantity of output, new material always sounds fresh and invigorating.
'Inaugural Trams' for instance. Who but the Furries would think to write a lyric based on an inner city transport system, put to a pseudo Kraftwerk beat and including a rap, in German no less, performed by a member of Franz Ferdinand? Just over 5 mins later you realise you don't really care, it's just possibly the most enjoyable piece of music you've heard this year.
'Moped Eyes' sounds like Bowie - inspired! 'Mt' is a woozy daydream so laid back it almost falls over and 'Helium Hearts' is pure pop paradise.
Personally, I miss the more liberal splashing of melody that accompanied previous album 'Hey Venus!' Nothing quite matches the beautifully melodic 'Run-away' from that album and in truth sometimes there is a little lack of impetus on some of these slow burning 'jams'. The sequencing alone breeds quite a different beast from its predecessor plus there are five tracks here well over the 5 minute mark.
On repeated listen though, more and more reveals itself. Enjoy the lyrical delights of 'I will design a town in the image of your face' or 'They say the future of cement is set in stone' both from 'Inaugural Trams'. Still the humour shines through as on past SFA records.
As a friend of mine so eloquently posted on twitter, "[Dark Days/Light Years is] a ninth consecutive return to form."
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