Biffy Clyro
"Hello, we're Biffy Clyro."—Simon Neil, every show
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band from Kilmarnock, formed in 1995. After their first three albums, the band expanded their following significantly with the release of their fourth, Puzzle, in 2007, which went gold in the UK. Biffy Clyro's popularity was built upon further in 2008 and 2009 with the release of the singles "Mountains" and "That Golden Rule".
Their latest album, Only Revolutions, reached #3 in the UK chart and went gold within days of its release in 2009, later going platinum in 2010 and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. In December 2010 they were especially brought to notice of mainstream after their song "Many of Horror" was covered as the winner's single in The X Factor by Matt Cardle.
The band consists of:
- Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals)
- James Johnston (bass, vocals)
- Ben Johnston (drums, vocals)
Their albums are:
- Blackened Sky (2002)
- The Vertigo of Bliss (2003)
- Infinity Land (2004)
- Puzzle (2007)
- Only Revolutions (2009)
- Always Identical Twins: James and Ben
- A Date with Rosie Palms: The cover of A Vertigo of Bliss.
- A Good Name for a Rock Band: Name origin theories are abundant, and the band has never given a single official explanation.
- Album Title Drop: Played straight on Blackened Sky opener "Joy. Discovery. Invention". Inverted on Puzzle, which has the name drop on b-side "Scared of Lots of Everything".
- Badass Beard: All three band members sport them.
- Black Sheep Hit: "Many of Horror"
- British Accents: Scottish. All three members sing, and all sound the same, making it difficult to know who's singing on some songs.
- The Captain is a song from Only Revolutions.
- Careful with That Axe: frequently.
- Fun with Acronyms: "Big Imagine For Feeling Young Cos Life Yearns Real Optimism", featured on official merchandise.
- Grief Song: "Folding Stars", about Simon's late mother.
- Indecipherable Lyrics: Especially on "That Golden Rule".
- Money, Dear Boy: They made a pretty penny off X Factor, and as they were in Australia over Christmas 2010, they just didn't care about what might happen in the UK.
- New Sound Album: Only Revolutions, which is more melodic and contains more symphonic elements.
- Non-Appearing Title: The song "Cloud of Stink" from Only Revolutions.
- "Saturday Superhouse" from Puzzle.
- "Toys, Toys, Toys, Choke, Toys, Toys Toys" from Vertigo of Bliss.
- One-Hit Wonder: "Many of Horror" is the one song most people are familiar with, and that is because of Matt Cardle and the X Factor.
- Precision F-Strike: "Shock, Shock": "You talk and you talk like you're trying to shun me, I don't even know what the FUCK we're still arguing about."
- "Solution Devices": "Our turn, our turn, fuck you and all your games."
- "Get Fucked Stud"
- Refrain From Assuming: That song that's been everywhere recently? It's called "Many of Horror", NOT "When We Collide" - no matter what Matt Cardle says.
- Also the name of the band, "Biffy Clyro" is NOT Simon Neil's name.
- Sanity Slippage Song: "Living Is a Problem Beacause Everything Dies"
- Signature Song: "Justboy", their most well known song among fans, and a concert staple.
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: By their own admission, "Questions and Answers" is a "wee pop song" which stands out alongside the alternate time signatures and screaming vocals of Vertigo of Bliss.
- Title by Number: "27" and "57".
- Word Salad Lyrics: Many, many of their songs don't make much sense. Especially if you take them literally.