++ALBUM++ review by Rory Carroll
Rory Carroll takes a trip through the secret history of Scotland's Biffy Clyro, whose early releases are charted here in all their speed-grunge glory...
It would be wrong to mistake this for a ‘best of’ or one of those moderately condescending ‘for the fans’ albums, because it’s really anything but.
This is ‘Biffy: the early years’, a compendium of early singles for those who walked in halfway through the movie and missed the opening scenes full of jaggy snakes, joy, discovery, invention, recovery injections, glitter and trauma.
"Lifelong fans already understand that Biffy Clyro are more than just a band: they’re a Scottish institution..."
The uninitiated will quickly notice that the songs have become a little less abstract and far more polished as the years have gone on, but this singles collection follows the band’s evolution, and demonstrates quite how far they have come in a relatively short space of time.
They may no longer be the angry young things displayed on songs like ‘57’, but by the time you reach ‘My Recovery Injection’ in this chronological waltz down memory lane, there's little doubt that the band are were well on track to recording their chart-thumping 'Puzzle’ LP.
Lifelong fans already understand that Biffy Clyro are more than just a band: they’re a Scottish institution with a vast tartan army whose battle cry of “‘mon the Biffy” echoes around venues across the country.
They, of course, won’t need to buy the album, but the latecomers who shuffled in and spilt their popcorn everywhere need this album more than Carl Barat needs song writing lessons - and on recent form, that’s an awful lot.
++ Rory Carroll ++
Artrocker rating: 4
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