Biffy Clyro - Live
Frightened Rabbit
Wednesday 16th of December 2009
How to steal a show without even trying: Frightened Rabbit are unassuming to the point of self-effacement. The giant speaker stacks and vast lighting rig aren't there for them, but within 60 seconds "The Modern Leper" is the biggest thing in the room. Scott Hutchinson's abandoned boom-yelp of a voice, the thumping "Waiting for the Man" drums and the constant "WHOA-OH-OA" backing vocals create an unstoppable momentum.
Admittedly the next song is less of the same, and by the third it seems doubtful whether they've enough variety to sustain a whole set.
This theory is immediately proven to be tosh. Something definitive and powerfully moving happens when they strike up "Swim Until You Can't See Land", which rides in gently like a train you fuzzily remember riding on. You drift, you rattle through the countryside; the beloved wipes away your tears at the station, and then you wake up. Something has changed.
After that it's open season on the emotions. Scott really cuts loose on "Square 9", like "Swim..." unhinged some repressed memory in serious need of release. And it's not just him; the whole band are caught up in this new mood. "Keep Yourself Warm" is a crashing conclusion, all Waterboys rawness and seraphic whooping. So much for my reservations.
The titanic sound and vision hoo-ha is for Biffy Clyro. They have been most-likely fringe contenders for a very long while: for lo, it is written that every second year, an NME cover will proclaim them finally ready to break the charts/the States/the moon. And sooth, it is written (here) that by George, this time they finally have the songs to do it. They could credibly launch an ad campaign telling you that you know more Biffy Clyro songs than you think you do, ya big lug. Yes, that one! The one you thought was Snow Patrol (only better)! That's "Machines"! By Biffy Clyro!
Their first challenge here is not to be overshadowed by their own concussive light show. It might be too much of an ask, though a terrifyingly ragged take on "That Golden Rule" (like the Foo Fighters, only better) is a good way to start. Too much of the rest, though, is like being force-fed the plainest of fare. First the meat. Then the spuds. Then more meat. And a small, knobbly thing that might just be a potato. The crowd are lapping it up, but it feels grimly unambitious. There are hints of the Pixies here and there, but it's Pixies-as-football-chant rather than lava-gargling genius. Then they go and throw in something truly fine like "Machines" and it leavens the gruel, but it's a long slog between highlights.
What isn't new material here is mostly from their very first album, so at least it shows they've come a long way. Diagnosis is that Biffy are a band improving dramatically. They have a barrage of great new songs, including one ("The Captain") which may be the best single released this year, and a whole load of barely differentiated (mostly older) material that's just crawled out of the swamp. Good news is, give 'em a couple more albums and they'll have a setlist worthy of their flourishing gifts. Even if "I am the mountain/You are the sea" is the sort of chat-up line that belongs in the depths of the spam box.
Author: Stuart M
Venue: The Forum (Kentish Town)
Found in: Live Reviews