Prolific psych popsters Super Furry Animals will release their ninth studio album, Dark Days/Light Years, on March 16th via digital download on the band’s website. Details on the forthcoming slab have been scarce but the latest is that it will feature a guest vocal from Franz Ferdinand’s Nick McCarthy [Editor's Note: boooooooooo!] and include 12 tracks including one named “The Very Best of Neil Diamond.” Fans of “Cracklin’ Rose” are likely to be disappointed if SFA’s latest is anything like its past paeans.
The band’s last go-round was nearly two years ago with 2007’s Hey Venus! and frontman Gruff Rhys has more recently been busy with Neon Neon, his side project with Cincy native, Boom Bip [Editor's Note: yay!]. Yet another of the megabands spawned out of Creation Records’ heyday, Alan McGee plucked SFA for the label back in ‘95 and soon released Fuzzy Logic to critical acclaim. Reviewers frequently lumped them in with Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci as the torchbearers of “Welsh rock” in yet another example of why overeager attempts at categorization are often ill-advised in hindsight.
I like to now and then check out McGee’s blog over at the UK Guardian to see what the old Creation boss is listening to these days. With his keen A&R ear and provocative posts like, “Animal Collective: The New Hall & Oates?” (which predictably generated more flames than Mrs. O’Leary’s cow), he’s always a fun read. In reminiscing about his discovery of SFA, he claims that the band was intended to be the “Blur to my Oasis” referring to the top of the Brit-pop rivalry between the two bands.
Of course SFA never succumbed to the ridiculous swagger (although Mogwai couldn’t resist slagging Blur as “shite”) but has been quietly consistent and understated to the point of turning down millions from Coca Cola for the use of “Hello Sunshine” in its ads. McGee points to the band as woefully underrated but, as Carles at Hipster Runoff would say, “don’t yall h8 it when mainstreamers discover ur fave alt band?”
Hey Venus! was the band’s first of three contractual releases on Rough Trade. Response was overwhelmingly muted from fans unaccustomed to such a conventional album from a band known to twist Steely Dan samples pretzel-like into something like “The Man Don’t Give a Fuck.” Still, the album features some of their catchiest work to date including tracks like “Run-Away” which conjures up Beach Boys harmonies and a Ronettes backbeat.
The superficial reviews often compared the album to Fuzzy Logic though the two sound entirely different to me. There’s a span of over 10 years between the two releases and the nuance and maturity of Hey Venus! is apparent after repeated listens. While SFA’s albums in between have featured a daring willingness to experiment, their most recent release shows a restraint which says ‘yeah we can go there, but we won’t.’
Rhys has claimed that Hey Venus! was intended to be a “loud” album and that most of the more eclectic tracks were made part of his solo album, Candylion. There are even odds as to whether Dark Days/Light Years marks a natural progression or embarks on something entirely different. I’m sure Alan McGee is waiting with bated breath and hoping the next release transforms our planet into a “Super Furry” one.
After eight solid efforts over more than a decade it’s hard to know what would break the band into the bigtime alt rock world of, say, Miley Cyrus’ latest crush, Radiohead. “Hello Sunshine” was already floated on an episode of The OC and Zach Braff doesn’t have anything currently in production. But ask Thom Yorke what he thinks of being the new tween sensation and maybe superstardom doesn’t look all that appealing.
MP3 :::
Super Furry Animals – Run Away
Super Furry Animals – The Man Don’t Give a Fuck
