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Biffy Clyro: Saturday Superhouse
Apologies for spoiling the love-in, but I've never really understood the heaps of critical - and more recently commercial - acclaim that seems to have come the way of Biffy Clyro.
Even back in the days of 'Justboy' and '57', one felt that the only reason the Scots were being given so much attention was because they were a more lively alternative to the comatose collective of Coldplay and their clones, the bands that clogged up the airwaves and charts of the time.
"'Mon The Biffy" say their disciples and, I've got to say, I'm with them on that one. As in, "Come on Biffy, wake up and write an original, interesting tune!"
At this moment in time they seem to be stuck in a Tardis, one programmed to travel to the ‘90s, with no means of escape. Last single 'Semi-Mental' saw the trio performing a damn fine impersonation of Troublegum-era Therapy?, and ‘Saturday Superhouse’ is comparable only with a song of the quality of a Foo Fighters b-side. It would have probably sounded great on the flip of 'This Is A Call' in '95, but it just sounds tired and laboured in the present day.
Let the love-in continue by all means, but count this writer out. Yawn…
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I disagree
I don't think you can be too familiar with their back catalogue if you suggest they've never written an original or interesting tune.
Regardless, I reckon Saturday Superhouse is a lovely nugget of pop rock and murmurings of an epic album leave me satisfied that they're about to surprise me yet again.
:)
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Biffy's singles
Have never really been truly indicative of the band's creativity - one of their biggest hits from a few years back, "Questions and Answers", is probably the dourest song they've ever written. The two songs they've released from Puzzle haven't exactly set the world alight either, but I'm still hopeful it'll be a great album.
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I agree somewhat
but to say, "Come on Biffy, wake up and write an original, interesting tune!", would really be doing this band injustice.
Saturday Superhouse isn't the greatest song in the world, but then never have any of their singles - they just act as promotional tools for the albums, of which all 3 I love and (from what I've heard) the fourth will be a cracker as well.
That said Superhouse is a great singalong and Biffy are a bit like marmite.
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Biffy Rip-off Band
Sounds like a frankenstein of about four songs from 'Bleed American' by Jimmy Eat World...
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Mon the Biff
Biffy Clyro do write original and interesting tunes - 57 and Glitter & Trauma sound like nothing else out there and are rightly classifiable as 'different gravy'. The Infinity Land album, while flawed in places, was far from formulaic and a really good diverse listen, so the criticism just seems unfair. As far as the 90s sound, would you rather they straddle the zeitgeist by growing some horrors-esque fright-wigs and then sing jaunty jejune pop a la View?
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hahaha
i described this song as a foo fighters b-side yesterday to my mate
great minds think alike.
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lol
the reviewer should get perspective
your angry at biffy clyro for being unoriginal!?!?!?!?!!
sure they aren;t the most original band you will see but i think about a gazillion other albums are less original than them.
great review, so great that i just may not take your opinion seriously again
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interesting
...
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it sounds like
all my life by the foo fighters... the segue into the chorus, at the very least.
it's better than a 5/10 though. but only marginally.
and biffy fans, put this into perspective, he's reviewing one song, not their entire back catalogue... i'm hoping the album will be a little more diverse, at the very least.
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It's all good and fine
saying a million other bands aren't original either, but as I've stated elsewhere about other bands who are given credibility status when in fact they're nothing more than average copyisyts, why should they be treated any differently?
It seems to me that it's OK if you're a Nirvana/Sabbath/Sonic Youth/Mogwai copyist but not OK to be influenced by Oasis or The Beatles.
If your idea of originality is copying 3 of the former 4, as this lot seemingly do, then maybe it's you whose opinion shouldn't be taken that seriously.-
Which cock
wrote this?
Seriously.
How can you say they don't write original songs? You haven't even bothered listening to their stuff. I challenge you to find a band that can write as breathtakingly original numbers like Toys Toys Toys, There's No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake, Kill The Old Torture The Young, Time As An Imploding Unit, Bodies In Flight, Bonanzoid Deathgrip, Strung To Your Ribcage, or Now The Action Is On Fire!.
Get your head out your arse. If you're going to review something then at least make sure you know who the fuck you're talking about. Biffy's singles are always poppy and in my oppinion the weakest on the albums, which are full of cryptic, magical jiggary pokery.
I met them yesterday at an HMV signing. Lovely chaps.
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I once met
my old Maths teacher in HMV - he was a lovely chap too. Your point being...?
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That wasn't a "point"
that was just an afterthought.
My point was you have no idea what you're talking about. You probably knew that before you started writing it anyway.
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Easily pleased
then Mr Loque. Good for you, and I hope you enjoy the next post-Kurt tribute band that comes along too.
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What?
What makes them a Nirvana tribute?
You're making an arse of yourself now. If you'd listened to the songs I mentioned above then you'd realise you can't really pigeonhole them into anything.
You're just a bitter little wanker who doesn't like the idea of something he can't be arsed to listen to properly actually being good.
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And you're just one of those
fans who takes it personally when someone makes a valid criticism of your overrated favourite band.
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They're underrated
if anything.
And your criticisms lie in the mould of "they aren't original" which, no matter which way you look at it, is complete bullshit.
You don't know enough about them to make such comments about the back catalogue.
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Really?
So my criticism isn't down to the fact that after seeing them live on several occasions and having heard the majority of their records they don't make any impression on me due to the fact it has been done better before but because "I don't know enough about them".
OK.
Whatever.
Next...-
You're just a liar.
You can't have listened to the majority of their records because then you couldn't say they were unoriginal, whether you're a fan or not.
And don't play the "mehhh seen them live loads of times so I know all about them LOL" card because if you don't give a shite about who you're listening to live you don't listen anyway. I saw them live before I really listened to them and they made no impact on me at all, same goes for many bands.
Lazy reviewer, to be honest. Stick to what you know.
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Utter nonsense
I don't know why you're choosing to hate one of the best bands around because none of your points are valid. Maybe you think by being one of the few reviewers who hate Biffy you'll create a bit of controversy and attract more attention to your ridiculous reviews?
I wouldn't care less about your silly little rants if it wasn't for the fact that people will read that having never heard the band and choose not to listen to Biffy because of your nonsense.
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I take it
that was for gimp-face and not for me?
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Oh right.
If you say so...
You obviously haven't bothered to even read the review as I've already stated in the second paragraph my long-standing gripe with this band.
A lazy review would be to just go with the flow, safe in the knowledge that people such as you behind rose-tinted specs will be appeased to read how great your favourite band are once again.
But then to do that would make me a liar wouldn't it...
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Of course i read the review,
and i see no valid points in it. I'm all for critiscisms of bands, but only when it is based on some sort of truth. To me the review is rambling insults. Not professional in the slightest.
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I agree with loque
Comparing them to Nirvana is a bit lazy. I don't know any two songs which sound the same at all. I really don't like Nirvana, Biffy on the other hand are one of my favourite bands of all time. For a three piece band with an amazing sound, songs which can have about 3/4 different choruses packed into one song, and catchy, yet with a nice complexity to them, you can hardly call them "tired and laboured".
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He's just a little diddy man playing with big words
to fill his brainless days.
I don't like Nirvana either. They sound fuck all like them.
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Very poor review from someone that is generalising all of Biffy's back catalogue when they obviously
From now on I'll read your reviews with a pinch of LOL.
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What 3 of those 4 are they copying?
Nirvana I accept but who else...?
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Ugh
I knew the rapid fanboi backlash was a-comin'. Stop it, you're embarassing :(
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Not rapid
But RABID!
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It's not fanboy
it's just retaliation at a blatant shite review..
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It's definitely rabid
You're not gonna achieve anything though, other than reinforce whatever stereotype currently exists of Biffy fans as overly defensive, aggressive-when-challenged headbangers who are far too quick to take criticism of the band personally. As a Biffy fan I find this embarassing, because I associate that mentality with children; with bands like Avenged Sevengold and My Chemical Romance. I love Biffy, but I'm not crying about one review of one single on one website - what's the point!?
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Oh loque loque
dearest loque.
If all you want to read is glowing praise of your favourite band, post on their message boards or add a comment on MySpace, because you obviously can't take reasoned criticism of them.
I make valid points - whether everyone agrees with them or not - to substantiate my viewpoint.
You just throw childish personal insults as justification for your defence of Biffy Clyro.I think that makes it game, set and match to me loque, don't you.
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erm
i have to say that last sentence in your post is as petty and childish as anything the other guy said insult wise
i love biffy but hey dude it's only a review... i am sure the band are gutted that, of all people, a journalist doesnt like them... it wont bother them
its only mr gourlay's opinion, and what do opinions matter... not a jot
craig x
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Fair dos
but I still stand by my original question:-
Why is it OK for artists to plagiarise the likes of Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Black Sabbath and Mogwai and not be called derivative, yet a band admits to liking or being influenced by Oasis and their ilk and is called all the names about being retro etc under the sun?
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hmm
as a friend of dom and a fan of biffy clyro ill give my opinion:
Biffy have written interesting songs. Eradicate The Doubt, 57, ...Jaggy Snake, Glitter And Trauma etc.
They do take influences from Mogwai, Nirvana and Sonic Youth, but id say they combine them rather than rip one of them off.
But this single is terrible, 5/10 is more than i would give it.-
it isnt
and your suggestion that anyone thinks it is is bullshit.
plenty of bands get ripped into for ripping off those bands.
maybe what you cant see is that, with a band like sonic youth, their music is very idea and texture based, and that you can take their music as a starting point and create something relatively new. whereas with retro guitar pop, this is much less the case.
anyway, people are pissed off with the review not because its negative, just that the reasons for its negativity aren't very accurate. the chorus to this song is fairly pop rocky and foo fighters-y, but the rest of of it is fucked up structurally and rhythmically, in a wy that none of the bands you suggest that they rip off woul have ever done
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I'm sorry but
EVERY band that admits to being influenced by Oasis gets ripped to shreds, yet a lot of bands who cite those previously mentioned are seen as being structurally inventive or whatever.
As for the review itself, I think my reasons are clear enough in that I think the band are overrated and that the song is nothing more than a pastiche of a Foo Fighters b-side.
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I'll
join the gang.
I disagree that they've not written interesting songs.
I agree that this song is pretty wank.-
i'd say their
influences are more like
mineral , sunny day real estate , red house painters , and weezer
i know saracasm doesnt translate well to written word.... but oasis and mogwai ? ... i aint sure if you are being serious or not there
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Yeah,
the review just hit a nerve..
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You're just making yourself
look worse now. You wrote a shite review, just admit it. The single's not brilliant but the review was shite.
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ho sez oasiz?
if you meant Dom you completely misread what her said.
listen to infinity land, there are lots of parts that take influences from mogwai, maybe not so in the song structure but the guitar sound and how it is layered -
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The 'biffy clyro sound like nirvana' argument is one of the lamest, laziest comparisons around.
I can't think of a single BC track that sounds like a Nirvana track. The form, sound, lyrics, intention are all different.It's a lazy review in general whether i agree with it or not. Their new stuff hasn't blown me away but to describe Biffy as unoriginal and rip off merchants is just plain wrong, opinion doesn't come into it.
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You haven't raised
one worthwhile, intelligent argument pal, so don't start bandying around personal insults as some kind of justification.
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it is a dull, dull song
forget the past and embrace the present. it smells rancid.
and not even as good as the band.
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It is more valid
to copy Sabbath or Sonic Youth than Oasis, because those bands innovated. Oasis didn't even innovate their attitude never mind music, and the Beatles are so over-plagiarised that it's a very dull thing to copy them. Saying that, I don't have much time for any bands that "copy" things at all.
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There is a perfectly
reasonable argument that Biffy are just a tired attempt to update the grunge sound with a bit of hardcore thrown in and a few rhythm changes. Reviewers picked up on this as far back as their first album, which got a pretty mediocre reception as I recall.
Not that I necessarily subscribe to that, but I can see it has at least some basis, especially for people who are not into that kind of music.
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I'm not a massive fan
Saw them at Truck 2 years ago and wondered what the fuss was all about, and I don't own any of their releases. Since then, however, I've heard their singles (i.e. them at their most populist and derivative) and some rarities (e.g. interesting arrangement of Weezer's 'Buddy Holly') and I have to say that they stand out from most bands at their level of success in their approach to songwriting.
Of course, everyone's derivative to a certain extent and no-one can claim to have grown up in a musical vacuum these days, but to accuse bands of their ilk of wholesale ripping-off/sounding like a pastiche smacks of know-it-all indiekid-ism to me. I can see elements of better Nirvana songs in what I've heard of Biffy, but not enough to constitute a rip-off (to be fair, Dom never directly made that accusation). As for the Foos B-side thing, I find Grohl's songs far blander than any of Biffy's output.
At the risk of being an iconoclast, I'm sure it's possible to level the same accusations of derivativeness at any musician, but it's truer and more obvious of people who claim to be influenced by bands, who are in themselves inherently and irritatingly derivative.
Personally, if there's a Tardis headed for the early 90s, then I'm booking my seat.
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"write something original?"
are you having a laugh?
a bollocks review.
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s'all just opinion
i love the Biff muchly, but agree this single is a bit shit as are many of their interestly record-company editted other singles. so fair review. tis only one song after all
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they've written plenty of interesting songs
but this isn't one of them. boring single.
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I'm a Biffy Fan
But this is a review of ONE song people. Frankly, a dull song at that.
The folks above taking it personally need to step back and calm down.
5/10 is more than fair, especially when the reviewer's not a fan. I'd give it the same and I love the band.
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This song is really really awful
and even 5 is more than I expected it to get. Biffy could write ten songs like this before tea.
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jeez
i think biffy are superb, but if they attract fans that can't take on boartd someone elses opinion, i think i'll just stick to Nirvana ;)
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but like ive said, the chorus is comparable to foo fighters
but the verses arent what foo fighters would write at all.
i cant think of any big examples, but im certain there are lots of "credible" bands who have expressed a love for oasis - i mean, theres a reason Ryan Adams and Cat Power have covered Wonderwall, and i dont think its irony.
its just theres a difference between being influenced by a band and ripping them off. rip offs will concentrate on replicating the sound, whilst an influence runs with the ideas. the ideas of a band like, say, sonic youth are much more about musical progression and change, and different attitudes towards playing their instruments, whilst the ideas behind oasis' music are more about communal sing alongs and accessible musical conserativism, which, generaly leads to bands that sound the same
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sheesh
this got on peoples tits didnt it.:(
i dont like it either. artworks fun though, pink floyd esk..
(ducks)
and i do agree with dom in a way, any band who ripps oasis do get a shating on, to be honest most bands do if they slightly resemble any artist..its the way of the gun kids...
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blah blah blah
chill out.
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Every single one
of my arguements was worthwhile and intelligent.
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Oh yeah
and I never said that Saturday Superhouse was a brilliant song. It's just that apart from the three lines you used to actually review the single, it was just unjustified, arsey moaning about how you don't personally like them. For someone who says Biffy are boring when you like the Kaiser Chiefs is a bit of a LOL.
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Kaiser Chiefs
got 3/10. Your beloved Biffy got 5. It's called objective, unbiased reviewing.
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It's called
"shite".
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Good
to see you've taken up intelligent debating once again.
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its not called
objective unbiased reviewing
if it is you would be the only music journalist in the world to do such a thing and i personally dont believe that can ever be the case..... its impossible to be objective if you are going into writing a review of a band you already have an opinion on...
music journalists = poor journalist
thats just an opinion ...
craig x
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umm...
lets be honest here, nirvana were hardly original themselves were they, pretty much everything they did was done better by others before Nevermind and it's formulaic popsongs propelled them to stardom.
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how can
a music review ever be objective?
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no
music journalists- journalists who have other day jobs and do what they do for fun without financial rewards. at least on DiS
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heaps of racism
to the scottish
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English lesson
An objective review - something that is undistorted by personal bias.
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I love this band,
but this single disappoints me, as did Semi Mental.
I'm a bit worried about the album, but they've never released their best songs as singles anyway.
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I like
the single, it's a good song. Not heavy, poppier than usual... long may the love in continue.
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but you
clearly stated at the start of the review that you weren't into biffy, so that doesn't make your review either objective or unbiased!
either way, it's still not enough to kick up a loque-esque fuss over...
anyone else notice the remarkable resemblance to The Ideal Height as well, in terms of song structure?
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Meh.
I have loved Biffy since 57, and was so excited for new albummage, but I have to agree with the review; Saturday Superhouse is arse.
I have to disagree with the reviewer on the <i>Troublegum</i> point, though; that album is every flavour of AWESOME, and this song doesn't manage that at all.
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Ah well
guess I'm the only one that really likes this song...
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um
semi-mental is pretty much Nirvana.
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i'm quite a big Biffy fan
well, on record anyway.. but this single is rrrrrrrrrrubbishy.
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Gerrrrr....
offf Marwood! Ideal Height was the same when that camne out, kind of lacked the punch. Ive heard a few others off the lp and they are ace, 'Get Fucked Stud' especially.
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"At this moment in time"
Worst phrase ever. Overused everywhere.
Just say "Now".
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Personally...
...I'm with Dom Gourlay on this one.
Sure, they make a satisfying musical racket, that said, it's been done a million times before to a much better standard, solely because it's been done before, by bands who actually had something to say with their music.
I've listened to all of their records, and I do like a lot of their music, but lyrically they have nothing to say.
I await the "This new album is about Simon's mum dying how very dare you" retorts with much anticipation.
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Mon the old Biffy away with the new
I'm a rather big fan of Biffy. I've seen them live many times when they were touring on the back end of their 1st album (Blackened Sky). They were awesome along with their 2nd album (The Vertigo Of Bliss) and unfortunately their 3rd album (Infinity Land) didn't quite cut it like their first two.
I've heard both their new tunes and am really disappointed. I ordered the new album yesterday and I know it's going to be pretty pap but I still had to buy it! Kinda like MJ's 4th (Epic) release 'Dangerous'.
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This review is a shame
Gourlay usually writes really good reviews, but this just strikes me as uninformed, unintelligent and plain wrong.
"Even back in the days of 'Justboy' and '57', one felt that the only reason the Scots were being given so much attention was because they were a more lively alternative to the comatose collective of Coldplay and their clones, the bands that clogged up the airwaves and charts of the time"
^^This may be the worst sentence ever written on DiS.
By all means, Dom is allowed to not particularly enjoy the track, and his opinion is as valid as mine or yours. He's the reviewer because he's a better writer than you, and slating a track is his prerogative, but to say Biffy haven't written anything original is plain crazy.
Have you even ever heard Bodies in Flight?!
I'm also with those that say Biffy singles aren't indicative of the quality of the albums they come from. That's pretty much spot on.
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Cough
""'Mon The Biffy" say their disciples and, I've got to say, I'm with them on that one. As in, "Come on Biffy, wake up and write an original, interesting tune!""
Hi.
I wholeheartedly and genuinely suggest you make an effort to check out "Living is a Problem because Everything Dies"It has a choir and violins and shit and is generally pretty brilliant.
You got your wish.
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so does no one else really fucking love this song?
i couldn't stop listening to it the other day.
and i saw biffy clyro live a couple of years ago and got so, so bored. and thus, am not a massive fan.
but this is such a tune.
you're all bastards.-
p.s.
i'm disappointed, because the whole critique of the song you're reviewing boils down to 'would've sounded good as a foo fighters b-side in 1995 but sounds shit now'.
i've got 'this is a call' on twelve inch and the two b-sides are fucking amazing. like, now. in 2007.
this is a pretty weak review in honesty.-
But surely that's the point
in someone reviewing the song who isn't completely 100% in love with all things Biffy? The only difference Fishplums is that if you were reviewing this record, the praise would be gism-spurtingly gushing, the rating would be 9/10 or thereabouts, and it would be me writing down here calling the review gash or whatever.
Horses for courses I say...
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Crap
What a terrible review, reviewing a band you don't even like is the same as me posting a review about, I don't know Keane... pointless.
Oddly though I agree with the score as this issn't up there with the best of the Biffy.
x
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But why is that pointless?
A pointless review is something written by someone who loves a band so much they could record themselves having a crap at midnight and said fanboy would still give it 10/10!
At least this review has divided opinion and ultimately shows not everyone that reads DiS is a Biffy obsessive!-
originality? pah...
Can we all please stop this denial and just face the stark and unfortunate reality that everything it is conceivable to do with guitars, bass, drums and vocals HAS BEEN DONE TO DEATH. Nothing out there is particularly original, because every aspect of it has been done somewhere before. There are no new frontiers to discover. If anyone tells you something is new and original, just tell them that they obviously haven't what it was influenced by.
I like Biffy. This single is by no means great. It's a 7/10 for me, along the lines of The Ideal Height or 57. Catchy enough, the odd quirk thrown in and well-performed, but not world-beating. It is not a Foo Fighters pastiche - I mean, Dom appears to say Biffy are too heavily influenced by Nirvana and then refers to This Is A Call without a hint of irony! Foo Fighters are a fine band - but original they ain't, and the first record was clearly a more light-hearted Nirvana minus two of its members and with the edges planed off.
Music, like fine art, has virtually reached a creative impasse. There's never anything completely new any more. I advise people to deal with it and celebrate good music rather than basing your opinions on originality or individuality. That perception only exists to people who have yet to discover the other bands that influence or inform every band out there. If it sounds original to you, great, enjoy that, but makes sure you know that it isn't to avoid entering pointless slanging matches like the above.
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dom, i honestly don't have a problem with you reviewing a band you don't like.
fuck, that's what critics do. if the guardian sent doe-eyed teenagers to review the latest lindsay lohan film, the column would be a mess.
you've just not made it very specific what you dislike about this song - lyrics/tempo/vocals/instruments/whatever. this reads like a vitriolic bitter account of someone who's pissed you off at work rather than a critique.
even if you don't agree, just for my sanity, could you pick out one specific thing you don't like? -
great read
That review was painful to read. The writer obviously hasn't done his research and makes some hilarious comparisons. You wreck any credibility by attempting to reply to anyone who disagrees with you. Just pack it in, it's pathetic.
But on to the song. Even the most dedicated Biffy fans must agree it's not one of their best. That's not to say it's a bad song. Saturday Superhouse is fun and to the point, which is what is needed for the charts! The b-side to the single is actually a much better song, just not as suitable for a single.
As for the originality point, I think it's fair to say Biffy are one of the most original 3 piece (guitar, drum, bass) bands. Keeping in mind as said above, it is almost impossible to be original with that combination.
Live band? I've seen them four times, one of them was the best gig i've ever been to. The atmosphere is intense as every fan is so into them.
Biffy Clyro are a great band, no gimmicks, no emphasis on style, just a fucking awesome rock band.
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Joining the site
just to post about a negative review!
You Biffy fans really are a scream...
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Yes!
I was searching for reviews of Saturday Superhouse, and yes, your review led me to this great site! I’m grateful for you being such a horrible reviewer, as the rest of the site is very good! When reviewing I’d advise you to analysis the actual song. I’ll probably take over your post soon.
Your constant need to re-affirm your views shows how poor a review it is, regardless of the band.
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Well I'm glad
my review has led you to the site.
Maybe you'll discover some more interesting and original bands that are actually worth getting so defensive about in the future!-
awesome
I've looked at your music taste and it is very similar actually, of course with the exception of the woeful Kaiser Chiefs.
But hey, maybe you'll write an interesting review some time that is actually worth getting so defensive about.
Don't start on the original band nonsense, that isn't the point.
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As far as I'm concerned
it's a valid point.
Biffy Clyro aren't exactly groundbreaking and this song more than justifies that statement.
What the rest of their forthcoming album sounds like is irrelevant.
This review is about 'Saturday Superhouse', end of.
What the Kaiser Chiefs have to do with it all is beyond me, but hey...?-
Err..
It isn't the point. You're meant to review the single, you didn't even touch on it. You just moaned about how you do not like the band. You say the song is 'un-original'. By that grounds, nearly every new band should get a bad review.
It's true they aren't ground-breaking, but for a standard 3 piece (drums, bass, guitar) they are original as hell. This is difficult to do. There's nothing wrong with good all-round music, even if it isn't breaking barriers.
A guy who likes the Kaiser Chiefs and complains Biffy are un-original, ahh dear. I will not reply again, as I have justified my points. I've read your other reviews, and they seem very good, even if I don't always agree. This was simply a bad review.
You should've expected a backlash - Biffy have the best fans in the world. :P
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As mentioned...
as mentioned above, I hope the reviewer gets to review Puzzle as well and eats a huge load of humble pie when he hears "Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies" which is the first song on the album
you wanted an original song? you've got guitars, strings, choirs, an orchestra and possibly the best intro to a song ever
everybody has their opinion of course, but after hearing this song, Saturday Superhouse is nothing compared to it
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Unoriginal???
Look at any of the fluff in the top 5 of the US or UK pop charts and tell me that BIFFY CLYRO IS UNORIGINAL?
It's the buyers of top 5 songs that are the sad sacks that permeating buying boring, unoriginal music that keep us up to our necks in boring, unoriginal music!! MON THE BIFFY!
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the song itself
is weak. but to call biffy unoriginal just isn't fair. they push the boundaries far more than many of their contempories, ableit not on this or the last single, and to have such a band given major record company backing is actually credit to all their hard work in the past.
most biffy songs have more ideas than a lot of bands put in 4 or 5. well, not battles or don caballero but you know what i'm saying.
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at the same time
give the reviewer a break. it is just one man's opinion. biffy do seem to polarise people. and in all fairness the workers in my office thought the single was by the foo fighters too until they were told otherwise.
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i'm not actually
I've been visiting the site for years, I just never got round to registering until now. Biffy are far from my favourite band (that would be Oceansize at the moment), but I do lament the fact that NME-sponsored flavour of the week indie bands, who are often terrible musicians, seem to get so many glowing reviews, when they mostly disappear as quickly as they hit the scene. The Biffy Clyro fanbase and the fact they are onto a 4th album and still picking up fans is a testament to their substance and gravitas.
I just wish the hatchet-jobs would be saved for the limp-wristed, badly played tripe I have to put up with on the flaming NME chart show. Some of the stuff that rag champions is insipid, amateurish garbage. Before we know it Sleeper will have reformed and then we're really in trouble!
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What's he on about??
Biffy Are Original
You've never listened to Biffy
Listen to 'Bodies in Flight'
Then tell me that ain't originalMon The Biffy!
Millions chant that out of love, not encouragementYou are clueless, and you are a terrible journalist.
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Ha!
You angered Biffy fans
The greatest fans in the worldMistake.
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Hypocrit
Just been on your myspace.
What is that rubbish you've got as your music?
Why is it so bad?
Why is it so unoriginal?Don't question Biffy when you're into such crap yourself.
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Well as you can probably tell,
the fact I've angered you coburnlovesbiffy is making me crap my pants on the spot. Or maybe not...
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Jeezy Creezy!
I'm a massive Biffy fan and I'm not imploding with anger just because a journalist doesn't like my favourite band. It's his opinion people!
The Troublegum comparison is spot on as well.
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Back to the review...
I really don't get where you're coming from with the Troublegum-era Therapy? comparison to 'Semi-Mental'..i'm a massive fan of both bands, but which part or sound of Troublegum are you referring to??!!
Biffy have certain taken influences from 90s era bands, but then they were growing up with the music so why wouldn't they? Countless others have with a great deal less originality or ability. Surely music evolves though influences? Still, can't think which 90s era band would've written "..jaggy snake"..which IS original amongst other songs mentioned.
Saturday Superhouse may not be the album track that gets hit on repeat by everyone after Puzzle comes out, but as a single trying to appeal to a wider audience it works as an introduction so that yes, everyone can hear Living Is A Problem (awesome).
To put a spin on things..I bet the foo fighters wish they had b-sides that could compare with Scared Lots Of Everything and (whenever it's released) Asexual Meat Kitchen.
Personally (in MY opinion) i think Saturday Superhouse is a great pop-rock single. Please clarify the Troublegum point though because i'd really be interested!
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The opening riff
has more than a hint of 'Trigger Inside' about it.
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mental trigger?
hmmm, not convinced myself! Trigger Inside has absolute killer riff and i can't really see the similarity especially when you compare it to the quirky start-stop riff that is the opening riff of semi-mental.....i wouldn't have called it myself and i've been listening to both bands for years!
i'd also argue that the vibe of troublegum-era Therapy? is also very different to Biffy's.
I did listen to both tracks again though! Anyway thanks for replying.
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I think they are
very similar though. At least it makes a change from Nirvana riffs I suppose!
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I think you have a problem. That problem is...
trying to show off how much you may or may not know about how rock music is and was. No-one cares if a riff sounds slightly familiar to you - certainly some bands pay heavy tribute to some of their influences, but i don't think Biffy are of that ilk.
You don't seem to be taking the music as it's intended.
The band have themselves said that their main aim is to be their own favourite band. The music isn't supposed to be referenced back to all the bands you've ever loved or hated - and frankly an idiot could draw comparisons between nirvana and any given rock band. So well done for doing that!To say the band is not original doesnt get things quite right. A few people have rightly said that the band's singles aren't their strongest songs - if you're looking for invention you need look no further than the album tracks from any of their past few offerings. Obviously the more progressive nature of the music here reduces the commercial viability of the music.
Basically Biffy Clyro being origianl is not radio friendly.
You are saying this single is formulaic? Generic? Thats what a single is in the music industry. Someone said singles are a marketing tool and they are right.
You don't like the band? Fair enough. Don't like the song? That's fine. But if you're going to give a review it's probably unwise to be so critical on all the wrong fronts. If i had to criticise i'd say the band are too eager to get all their ideas out there and might benefit from making more of vocal hooks and relying less on the erratics of their guitars. Saying that it's this 'off-kilter' ( overused phrase i know) sound that sets biffy clyro apart from a lot of contemporaries.
I get the feeling if they had released another song off Puzzle that demonstrated their more creative side you would be calling out for the band to stop being so self indulgent and give us a straight down the line rock-pop gem.
Theres no pleasing some people.Continue writing reviews by all means, but count this reader out. Yawn...
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Didn't Nirvana
borrow a lot of ideas from other musicians? I know Teen Spirit is widely thought of Boston's Than A Feeling riff speeded up. Nirvana were also in question over the plagiarism of Killing Joke's Eighties on Come As You Are...there's a thousand times more similarity between that the comparison with Trigger Inside and Semi-Mental i think! So even if they did, they're not technically "Nirvana's Riffs" to steal!
It's natural for influences to be incorporated into a band's sound - if they can make the sound unique that's the mark of a good band, which i think Biffy are.
I'm not a fan of the KC's and it says on your profile you are, but don't you think Kaiser Chiefs sound like Blur, 'on holiday, stuck in the 90s' (tardis)....just a bit?!
i'm not taking the piss out of your musical tastes as everyone has their own, just debating the 'originality' point of the review!
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OK, OK
Maybe I was a little scathing in my last comment and I suppose you are perfectly entitled to your own view (its just that you struck a nerve.) To end this argument I suggest that you go and see Biffy live (they're on tour now), be open-minded, listen to some of their stuff and work from there.
I promise you that their music will not let you down. (Saw them the other night and they had Mike from Oceansize singing a few songs for them - totally amazing vocalist.)
Seriously, as there's no better way of getting an insight into a band than seeing them live just go.
p.s. I think that even the most stubborn reporter couldn't resist tapping his foot to 'Strung to your ribcage.'
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To be fair clb
I've seen them a good half-a-dozen times or more over the past few years and never really got them. I may be in the minority here, but I still believe they are one of those bands who were fortunate to be in the right place at the right time when there was naff all else bar Coldplay or Limp Bizkit out there.
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