Biffy Clyro are a band from
Scotland (
Glasgow to be precise), comprised of:
Their musical style is
alternative rock, although this is a fairly general classification as I can't think of anyone they particularly sound like, in that genre or any other. I have heard them compared to
Nirvana, but I don't really see the similarity myself. Their songs do have a certain
dark,
authentic and
sincere feeling about them though, which in my view separates from a lot of other
so-called alternative bands.
Another thing about them that really stands out is the fact that all three contribute vocals. Simon is the lead vocalist on most, if not all tracks (as far as I can tell) but Ben will often sing choruses, and sometimes all three sing together in quite impressive vocal harmony. This lends a nice variety to the songs (three singers for the price of one!) and although they do sound a little similar to each other, they manage a decent range of styles. I think this is a practice more bands should employ.
They have released a number of singles and EPs on the Beggars Banquet label, along with their 2002 debut album Blackened Sky.
Blackened Sky Tracklist:
- Joy.Discovery.Invention *
- 27 *
- Justboy *
- Kill The Old, Torture Their Young
- The Go-Slow
- Christopher's River
- Convex, Concave
- 57 *
- Hero Management
- Solution Devices
- Stress On The Sky
- Scary Mary
* denotes a
single.
Standout tracks on the album in my opinion are Joy.Discovery.Invention, Justboy and 57. I actually managed to catch the video for 57 late one night on MTV2 UK, which is how I discovered them. I would recommend the album to those who like emotional, guitar-driven music (no, it's not emo, although there's nothing wrong with that). It may be a little difficult to find as they have yet to really make a breakthrough. I think I was quite lucky to find a single copy in Tower Records here in Dublin, but it should be available on Amazon or suchlike, for those of you blessed/cursed with a credit card.
They have released a new single called The Ideal Height, about 2 weeks before the date of this writeup. I am presuming it is from their new album which had been briefly mentioned on their website but is not mentioned there now. Anyway, I shall look forward to it...