Or, I Am Really, Really Stupid. I got this album from Amazon a few weeks ago, and despite my well-established love of SR, I didn't listen to it for fear of being disappointed. Need have I been worried? Nah. Opener Silver Moons is rather understated, but there are still some wonderful lyrical gems: "And I believe in growing old with grace / I believe she only loved my face / I believe I acted like a child / Making faces at acquired tastes". You Go On Ahead is back to 'normal', all gritty glitter and smoggy feedback, surreal lyrics and cute-but-psycho keyboards. Apollo And The Buffalo... is positively dripping with Greek mythos, nostalgia, and quiet lost beauty. It seems, at first, that their wonderful eccentricity has decided to take a back seat - but Nightingale / December Song makes it clear that it has just taken a bit of a chill pill. It still has oh-so-many different rhythms and sounds, but they don't fight like they they used to. It's good to see madness hasn't been forgotten, but it would be nice if the reins were loosened a little more frequently. Oh, what's that you say? Black Swan? A return to the mania of old, only with a healthy dose of The Strokes? Oh yes. It's a gamble that pays off incredibly well, making it the best track on the album after Idiot Heart. Off the wall lyricism and mad cap rhythms and even the often annoying backing vocals can't make a dent in its brilliance. It might only be eight tracks long, but I'll take those eight tracks over twenty tracks full of fluff any day. It might not have the recklessness of its predecessor Shut Up I Am Dreaming, but it's just as superb and a hell of a lot darker.
9/10
Moll x
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