Biffy Clyro: Only Revolutions

Reinvention is always going to prove a tricky concept. No band have proven so divisive in the Strange Glue offices than Biffy Clyro, with some claiming that they have "turned their backs on an entire cult-following and sound for number one hits and soulless music".

Others claimed that Puzzle was a masterpiece of pop-rock composition, full of wit, charm and melodic mastery. It's nice to see that Biffy Clyro themselves have helped us find the middle-ground here by lodging a distinctly inferior second entry in their pop career. 

Part of the misfire is their attempts to harken back to elements of their former sound while pairing it up with bouncy, saccharin pop songs. As such you'll constantly witness ill-advised shifts like the one between "Bubbles" and "God & Satan" where an overpowering noisome cacophony to an acoustic intro almost identical to "Machines" off their last album.

The likes of "Born on a Horse" also betray Biffy's worrisome adoption of the Noel Fielding approach to song-writing. Whether wilfully ridiculous or pointlessly obscure, we cannot decide on a motive. But what else are you supposed to do with the likes of "I pronounce it aluminium /  'cause there's an I next to the U and M / now write it down slowly and read it out fast... She's got hooves, preposterous hooves / I've never had a lover who's my sister or my brother before"?

Proof that the band is still capable of great things is still in evidence though. The furious strums of "Shock Shock" which bring the song to life see to that. Teetering on a sharp edge during the verse, promising either a slide to stupidity or grandiosity, Simon Neil and company thankfully choose the latter, hurling the song into a uneasy power-chord chorus of "Well you talk and you talk like you're trying to shock me / I don't even know what the fuck we're still arguing about / Maintain my silence." The content shift to real, tangible issues is certainly more sensible than discussions of Americanised vs. British spelling.

While on Puzzles there were many examples of the band excelling at a broad range of song styles ("Living is a Problem", "Who's Got a Match", "Machines", "9/15ths" exemplifying orchestral, pure pop, sensitive acoustic and macabrely sinister rock respectively) it seems that on Only Revolutions the only style they consistently nail is the pop chorus. "The Captain", "Bubbles", "Shock Shock", "Mountains" and "Boom, Blast & Ruin" all feature them strongly. The descending chord progressions, the soaring stretched syllables, the same selection of five vocal tones. Marketable songs they are indeed, but they all give off an aura of a band starting to reside within a comfort zone.

The splendidly-titled "Whorses" throws a spanner in the cogs of the band's downfall by finishing on a burst of energy. Not unconventional in its approach, but it still manages to nail every single trait it attempts. The adrenaline-fuelled tom drum blasts propelling us into a well-deserved half-time chorus punctuated by rebellious atonal guitar slashes. Then just as sudden, it all gives way to feedback, thirty second of it to send you off on your way.

Whether or not that 'way' culminates in a press of the repeat button will rest on your expectations for the band. If like the fans of Biffy-old the mere notion of a clean-shaven, angst-free Simon Neil fills you with dread, Only Revolutions will prove to be nearly as toxic as Puzzle to you.

Upping the murkiness may seem like an olive-branch to such fans, but while the band's message is muddled and the pioneering experimentation is dialled down, Biffy Clyro will just continue their descent into being another average rock band.