Album Reviews

It pains me to write this, because I have always liked Biffy Clyro. When they went for a more commercial sound starting with 2007’s “Puzzle”, they may have lost some fans along the way but they kept winning me over with every subsequent release. “Ellipsis” though? That’s where we part ways for now, because this album is the sonic equivalent of what my neighbor’s massive sheepdog would leave on the lawn after a particularly big meal.

The album opens with lead single “Wolves Of Winter”, which features the sort of staccato riff Biffy Clyro have become known for. But this time around it just feels empty and bland, like they were simply going through the motions. “Friends And Enemies” is the same kind of hollow shell where a cliché like ‘with a friend as good as you, who needs enemies’ found shelter. Not even the synths or the children’s choir they threw at it, can hide the fact that this is just not a good song. “Animal Style” starts off promising, but then bursts open in the kind of chorus that Fall Out Boy would write on a bad day. And the ballad that is “Re-Arrange” is so cheesy that even Taylor Swift wouldn’t be caught dead near it.

At this point we’re only four songs into the album and I’m starting to wonder if they released this as a joke. Then “Small Wishes” comes around with its country shuffle and honky tonk piano and yeah, I’m sure… they’re just kidding. Right? Someone please tell me they are punking us.

Apparently “Ellipsis” is the first in a trilogy of studio albums. I’m hoping this one is just a bump in the road, but at the same time I’m already dreading the sequels. I recently came across an article in which guitarist/vocalist Simon Neil says that they are a fucking great band. Yes, you are, but you made a shitty album.