Dark Days/Light Years
- Rock/Psychedelic
- 2009
- Buy the CD
Reviewed by Lee Zimmerman
That said, it’s surprising how alluring their music can be, particularly when such little heed is paid to traditional formulas and every song seems an excuse to exercise their whims with wild abandon. The band’s latest endeavor, Dark Days, Light Years, finds them reigniting their idiosyncrasies without hesitation, a welcome relief after pulling back the reins to a certain extent on their last effort, Hey Venus, two years ago. Song titles like "Crazy Naked Girls," "The Very Best of Neil Diamond" and "White Socks/Flip Flops" offer some indications that the Furries are back to their mischievous ways, but the more definitive proof lies in the tracks themselves – the unbounded explosiveness of the aforementioned "Crazy Naked Girls," the unabashed infectiousness of "Lliwiau Llachar," the sweeping sound of "Helium Hearts" and the utterly effusive "White Socks/Flip Flops." And while psychedelia infuses the atmospherics throughout, the record rocks convincingly, from the supple surge of "Cardiff in the Sun," with its percolating pulse and gleaming sha-la-las, to the joyfully exuberant "Where Do You Wanna Go," and its chorus of hey-hey-heys.
So too, the band further ups the ante by mixing funk with their frenzy, especially with "Moped Eyes," which combines a Bowie-esque croon with a Prince-like approach. The gleeful "Inaugural Trains" and the rollicking "Inconvenience" provide further evidence of the fact that the band haven’t lost their enthusiasm for acting out their ambitions. An album that revels in originality, Dark Days/Light Years is a consistently tuneful treasure.
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