Let’s cut to the chase: Biffy Clyro are back and we’ve got the track-by-track lowdown of their new album, A Celebration of Endings, for you.
So, what on Earth are you waiting for? Scroll down, you buffoon.
1. North of No South
A sharp, stabbing opener that comes armed with layers of distorted vocals and a chorus that seems tailor-made to be yelled from the rafters of your favourite stadium. If it’s a sonic reference point you’re after, then consider it to be the song on the album that’s closest to their Balance, Not Symmetry soundtrack. It’s a mission statement and an absolute #bop.
2. The Champ
An eerie, piano-led left turn from three men who are more accustomed to amplifiers than string arpeggios. The Champ is a rallying, anarchist, and defiant sucker-punch of a punk-spirited rock song – ‘We are the source / of all the things you’re desperate to ignore’ – and pivots into a throbbing, bass-led rock banger by the time the second chorus hits. Then they chuck in about seven guitar tracks, another string section, and some suitably ominous backing vocals. So far, so Biffy.
3. Weird Leisure
It’s Puzzle-era Biffy! Precision bass, wailing guitars, and rolling toms are the order of the day for the album’s first ‘textbook rock band’ moment. That’s not to say that’s a bad thing, though: after all, not only is that chorus destined to sound supermassive when it rings out across the nation’s festival fields, but Weird Leisure also enjoys the notable distinction of packing the Biffy canon’s first reference to someone’s face going ‘fucking numb’ from cocaine.
The message here? Mon the Biff, avoid the sniff.
4. Tiny Indoor Fireworks
Here comes A Celebration of Endings’ first radio-friendly moment. What a moment it is, too – after all, not only does Tiny Indoor Fireworks boast one of the best rock choruses that we’ve heard all year, but it also brings an immensely pleasing ‘Woah! Woah!’ bit along for the ride, as well as a lovely moment where the drums drop out before the chorus hits you in the face like a Fender-brandishing wet fish. Glorious stuff.
5. Worst Type of Best Possible
Well, this is rather good, isn’t it? It’s more ominous stuff from Mssrs. Johnston and Neil, with lyrical themes ranging from busted lips to the passing of time and the inevitability of everyone you love leaving you. It’s not an album highlight, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not an immensely enjoyable listen. Notable moments include the extended prog-rock wig-out at the end and the crispest high-hat sounds on the album. Stellar stuff.
6. Space
Warning: if you’ve been privy to any sort of emotional breakdown in the last six months, do not listen to Space. It will ruin you.
Imagine a twenty-first-century rock band’s take on a mid-seventies power ballad, complete with a broken falsetto, more rousing strings – they really got their money’s worth on those, didn’t they? – and lyrics including ‘No matter the distance between us, our joy lives in the moments we share / love sure is meaningless when you’re not there’.
Are you crying yet? If not, just press play. Guaranteed tears.
(Oh, and try not to call your ex after you listen. When she said that it’s over, she meant it was over.)
7. End Of
After the sob-fest that was Space comes the visceral, pounding rock of End Of. Boasting the opening line ‘This is not a love song / that was just a phase’ and the most visceral chorus on the record, it’s the perfect antidote to the preceding track’s raw sentimentality. If it’s bitter math-rock you’re after, it’s bitter math-rock you’re going to get, God dammit.
8. Instant History
Breaking news, reader. Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro appear to have – dare we say it? – gone a bit Dubstep. Don’t worry, though. Sure, Instant History might an arena-sized pop/rock song that’s more Blossoms than Biffy, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the highlights of A Celebration of Endings.
We’ve also got a very amusing mental picture of Simon Neil shouting ‘THIS IS THE SOUND THAT WE MAKE’ into the face of the bemused record company A&R who came down to check out the new demos. It might not be the sound that they usually make, but we think we like it.
9. The Pink Limit
We’re not going to go as far as saying that there’s a single skippable track on the album. We’re just going to say that if there were, it’d probably be The Pink Limit. Big chorus? Check. A tambourine? Check. A perfectly good Biffy Clyro track, but not one that we could remember much about after our first listen? Urm… Check.
10. Opaque
Anyone else getting minor Fernando vibes from that intro…? Anyway, once the ABBA subsides, this turns into an utterly gorgeous acoustic track. It’s the closest they’ve come to writing Machines V2; and if you’ve ever doubted Simon Neil as a songwriter, this is the track that’ll prove you a fool. Mournful strumming, layered vocals, and some seriously fed-up lyrics from Simon: it’s glorious in the melancholiest of ways.
11. Cop Syrup
‘FUCK EVERYBODY, WOO!’ is a mantra for any free-thinking individual in the modern age. IN THIS ESSAY I WILL
But seriously, though: what a song. It’s anthemic, anarchistic, and just plain ol’ pissed-off: it’s Biffy Clyro at their roaring, visceral best, complete with a three-minute instrumental section and the kind of chorus that makes you want to form a band with your two best mates and smash the living daylights out of any nearby eardrums.
Oh, and it’s also the perfect climax to the Scottish lads’ best album to date.
Mon the Biff? We defy you not to.