Your reviewer can't honestly say hard-working Scottish noiseniks (old school branch) BIFFY CLYRO had ever really hooked him in previously. Invariably, he found them sloppy, thrashy and in dire need of pointing in the direction of a decent tune.
However, sometimes the old cliche of practice making perfect does come to fruition, and Biffy's recent download-only single "There's No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake" showed that a fresh perspective and precise producer Chris Sheldon (Foo Fighters and countless more) combined could bring the butterfly from the cocoon. The fact that "...Jaggy Snake" outsold the likes of Keane and Avril Lavigne on the download front can't have hurt either.
"Glitter And Trauma" certainly suggests confidence is at an all-time high in the BC camp, anyway. Benefitting from Sheldon's dead-on, clarity-embracing production, it kicks off with morse-coding guitars and a disco beat akin to Blur's "Girls & Boys" before immediately crushing that beneath an 18-wheeler of hardcore noise. Within seconds that's also swept away by the song proper, which is all powerful anglarity, economic guitar hooks and a seriously improved vocal from Simon Neil.
The flipsides are worthwhile, too. "Bonanzoid Deathgrip" is intially nervy, ominous and dirge-like, with Neil emoting frustrated stuff like: "Why do you take everything I say the wrong way?" before the pent-up aggression spills across the floor and the band succumb to a more familiar overdriven psychosis, rather like Mclusky burning their plums on hot coals. No, that's not pretty and neither is this track. Ultimately, it's a retrograde step.
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Closing track "Stars And Shites" is anything but, though. It's a shame about the titter-worthy title, actually, as the tune itself is a stark, moving acoustic lament, apparently involving love, loss and longing, which again suggests BC harbour hidden depths. "The Stars don't shine and the birds don't sing anymore," chokes Neil, like an apprentice Scottish Mark Eitzel at one stage and this new-found vulnerability really suits him. Let's hope there's more to come.
So, while Biffy Clyro may still be noisy apparatchiks at heart, they are climbing the party ladder with determination and "Glitter And Trauma" is unquestionably their best yet. What the feck is that sleeve all about, though?
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