Dark Days/Light Years

Looking at the reviews on Amazon of any of the Super Furries output, I'm struck by the fact that if you asked a hundred of their fans to list the nine SFA albums in order of preference, no one would list them in exactly the same order. More important, however, is the fact that the hundred fans would probably agree that there hasn't been a dud in that run of nine. Some are better than others, sure, but every single album contains moments of genius.

'Dark Days/Light Years', then. Well, it doesn't get off to a good start. 'Crazy Naked Girls' sounds like a jam that should never've been recorded, 'Mt.' is devoid of imagination and not worthy of SFA, and 'Moped Eyes' is sub-Hot Chip suburban disco nonsense. At this point during my first listen I was seriously thinking that the Furries had finally lost it.

Thankfully, starting with the fourth track, things seriously improve. 'Inaugural Trams' is a homage to Kraftwerk but the keyboards remind me of Pulp too. It's unlike anything SFA've done before and one of their best ever tracks. 'Inconvenience' is a magnificent stomp, 'Cardiff In The Sun' is a mad, rambling 8-minute epic, and 'The Very Best of Neil Diamond' has intriguing eastern (as in India and not Norwich) percussion. The album then loses its way briefly before the lovely harmonies in 'Where Do You Wanna Go?' / 'Lliwiau Llachar' and the slow build-up / Krautrock wig out / demented fade out of 'Pric'.

In short, 'Dark Days/Light Years' is brilliant in parts, occasionally awful, mostly great, and SFA are still bursting with ideas well into their second decade. Just don't ask me to rate it alongside all their other albums, you'll only disagree with me.

After 2007's solid but unremarkable Hey Venus!, the individual Super Furry Animals clearly agreed with the critics: it was time for a break and an adventure. Since then, drummer Dafydd Ieuan pissed about with Rhys Ifans in The Peth, and singer Gruff Rhys teamed up with producer Boom Bip made an '80s synth-pop concept album about a millionnaire car designer as Neon Neon.

As you'd expect after all that, 'Dark Days/Light Nights' (the band's ninth album) sounds like a band who've rediscovered the playful, ambitious spirit which first set them apart from their Britpop peers. First single 'Inaugural Trams' is the album's highpoint of eccentricity, setting a bizarre narrative about opening a tram system to a bubblegum electro-pop melody, then throwing in a spoken-word German cameo from Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand. The end result sounds like The Smurfs covering Kraftwerk.

There are other moments of brilliance scattered throughout the album: 'The Very Best Of Neil Diamond' matches the year's best song title to one of their catchiest, most enjoyable songs in ages, while the slow-burning 'Cardiff In The Sun' and the Krautrock-esque 'Pric' are hypnotic extended jams. The album does, however, occasionally trip itself up with its laid-back feel, especially on 'Mt' and 'Inconvenience' - two forgettable pop songs with lazy, repetitive lryics. Likewise, opener 'Crazy Naked Girls' is an indulgent freak-out which outstays its welcome by several minutes.

'Dark Days/Light Years' has a tendency to become unfocused, but it also brings their psychedelic experimentalism and sense of humour back to the foreground for the first time since 2001 masterwork Rings Around the World. And that's far preferable to playing it safe for a whole album.

I initially felt the same as another reviewer in that after a couple of listens it hadn't quite gripped me. Then, with the sun shining and a cold beer in my hand, it all suddenly clicked into place. Summer arrived there and then. There are one or two weaker tracks at the end perhaps but generally I think the Furries have found their mojo again (the last album or two, for me, being slightly weaker).

When 'Cardiff in the Sun' flows into 'The Very Best of Neil Diamond' and that wonky eastern motif kicks in it's nigh on a perfect musical moment. This album brought to mind the song 'Smokin' off the Ice Hockey Hair EP - it's the sound of the Furries laid back, jazz cigarette in hand, and nodding along to a happy happy groove. I occasionally miss the psychelic pop of the first few records but that was 10 years ago and we've all grown up, SFA included.

There is no other band for me that, over the last ten years, has been so consistent while being so prolific and adventurous. I really feel lucky to have had the chance to follow this band since their early days but if you're new to them then this isn't a bad place to start at all.

So 4 stars from me as I can't give 4 1/2 - it ain't perfect but it's as close as I had hoped.