BIFFY CLYRO @ HIGHLINE BALLROOM, 6/14/07

There is an awesome band from Scotland called Biffy Clyro; though they are set to release their 4th album on Roadrunner later this year, you probably haven’t heard of them because none of their prior albums have seen a proper release in the U.S. Biffy Clyro came to the Highline Ballroom in New York’s meatpacking district (aka “East New Jersey”) this past Thursday as part of a showcase for buzzworthy UK bands. After the crapfest that was Enter Shikari finished playing (can you say “overrated?” who is this band kidding?), Biffy Clyro took the stage to a half-full room of mostly industry folks and a couple of die-hards up front; what ensued was pure brilliance. This band knows how to rock, HARD, and they know how to do it artfully, mixing an unmatched live intensity with stellar musicianship that surely would have been lost on the 100 or so sixteen year olds that exited following Enter Shikari’s set. The band’s brilliance lies not only in their musicianship and live show but in the wide range of influences their sound incorporates. Vascillating between Weezer-esque shoegazer, hard rocker, slow ballad, and everything in between, Clyro has — to use the old cliche — taken a wide range of influences to create something completely their own.

Biffy Clyro is so good, so unique, so talented, that I see their US fate going in one of two distinct directions. Either their brilliance will be recognized early and they will become the next universally esoteric and well-loved act (think Radiohead or Tool — they’re really that good, folks), or their high-mindedness will sail over the heads of simplistic American listeners and they’ll be forever overlooked. We hope it’s the former, but whatever happens, Biffy Clyro has fans at MetalSucks.

-VN

[Visit Biffy Clyro on MySpace]