Biffy Clyro - 'Mountains'
At the risk of exposing myself as a fraud, I'm not all that familiar with the work of Biffy Clyro up to this point. I wonder, though, have they been sampling from paranoid delusions for a while now? I ask this because, well, here's a sample from the chorus of 'Mountains': "I am the mountain, I am the sea, you can't take that away from me."
I'm not trying to take it away from them, of course, but it ought to be plainly obvious that they are neither - and indeed to be both at the same time would be quite the feat of physics.
Then again, perhaps I'm just taking the lyrics too literally. After all, I have no actual proof beyond her word that Katy Perry kissed a girl and she liked it. And I severely doubt that Jordin Sparks currently lacks oxygen, for that matter.
All flippancy aside, this track skates an interesting line between the hardcore and the sensitive, which is something that is hard to do well, but is rather carried off with aplomb by the Biffy. It's particularly evident in the first chorus (yes, there are two, and I heartily approve) where there's a layered vocal harmony over the top of an insistent rock riff, making for a fine balance of aggression and fragility.
There's something quite choppy about this track, as each of the four or five sections within it seems to have its own structure, quite separate from any of the others, which can make it feel at times like it's a bunch of mini-songs rather haphazardly glued together. This might sound like a big problem; to be honest, it's not, because all of the songs are of equally impressive quality, so as long as you don't mind a bit of disjointedness here and there, it's barely even an issue.
They still might want to see a psychiatric professional about that whole mountain / sea thing, mind.
Download: Out now
CD Released: August 18th
(Steve Perkins)
Comment number 1.
At 20th Aug 2008, fantasticBettyBoo28 wrote:That is hilarious, you should be a stand up comedian! Loved your blog!
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Comment number 2.
At 20th Aug 2008, techdesigns wrote:So you're "not all that familiar with the work of Biffy Clyro"... was your use of the phrase "with aplomb" entirely coincidental then?
Ok song, poor lyrics, Biffy have been going progressively downhill since their first 3 excellent albums...
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Comment number 3.
At 20th Aug 2008, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:If I can interject on Steve's behalf. "With aplomb" just means "with confidence", as in "being good at what they do".
You don't need special background knowledge to know if a band is performing with confidence or not, surely?
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Comment number 4.
At 20th Aug 2008, techdesigns wrote:Fraser: I am aware of the definition of the phrase... I was just wondering if it was a reference to the 3rd track on Vertigo of Bliss.
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Comment number 5.
At 20th Aug 2008, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:AH! Well there you go then. We know NUFFINK!
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Comment number 6.
At 20th Aug 2008, Villageidiom wrote:That isn't the real Biffy, check out this look a like...
www.myspace.com/akeal
...spitting image
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