As we wait patiently for the new BIFFY CLYRO album the guys have now announced details of their first full-scale UK arena tour since 2016.This one’s been a long time coming as well. They kick off the tour with two huge shows in Scotland, and why wouldn’t they. Always best to start these things with a home crowd.
BIFFY CLYRO formed in Kilmarnock. They’re made up of Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), James Johnston (bass, vocals) and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals). And despite what the uninitiated may thing, there isn’t a BIFFY or a CLYRO in the line up. In fact there is much debate about the name thing.
One theory is that it’s all about football. When the band were on Soccer FM, back in the day, it’s believed they attributed their funny sounding name to a Finnish footballer from the 17th century who played for their local team Ayr United. However, without any proof it seems pretty unlikely that can be true.
One explanation, which seems to have stuck the most, is that the name was inspired by Cliff Richard and a Biro pen.
Simon Neil said in an American interview………..
“There’s a famous British musician called Cliff Richard. And when me and Ben were 13 and bored in our little Scottish town of Ayr, we’d think up imaginary Cliff Richard merch products.”
“We thought of things like Cliff Richard coat hangers and Cliff Richard Jesus dolls – he’s a big Christian singer. In the UK there’s a cheap kind of pen called a Biro pen and we thought about making Cliff Richard Biro pens.”
“We’d call them Cliffy Biros. Somehow that turned into Biffy Clyro. Bizarrely, we weren’t high at the time. There’s just not a lot to do in Ayr. The weather is terrible.”
We really hope that’s true. It’s the best band name story we’ve heard for years. Even if it’s not then SOUTH WALES LIFE have got a little present for the guys, and yes we have one each fellas. We’ll bring them along on the night of the Cardiff gig……..
Back to the serious stuff now. BIFFY CLYRO are seven albums in having scored top five with four of them and Opposites (number six) going straight to number one. Over time the band went a little more ‘mainstream’ but always kept that distinctive BIFFY vibe. We’ve already had a taster of the latest album – A CELEBRATION OF ENDINGS with the release of The apocalyptic synths and bombastic beats of lead track ‘Instant History’ and the second, ‘End Of’ is a mix of traditional BIFFY with a hint of unpredictability.
We’ve got to say, that in our office, Instant History is the most played song at the moment.
The reaction to ‘Instant History’ has been incredible. It was premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World and was added straight to Radio 1’s B-list. It also went straight to the A-list at Absolute, Radio X and Virgin. And then ‘End Of’ was premiered by Zane Lowe at Beats 1. You can also hear Instant History on our radio station too.
There’s also a short behind the scenes thing which is worth a watch……..
Biffy’s approach to making the new album was pretty simple. Keep things fresh and maintain the wide-eyed wonder of what they do. Surprise themselves and each other. Push things to their furthest extremes. Their first building block in embracing the new was to turn to an old friend. In came Rich Costey, producer of ‘Ellipsis’. Simon told us…….
“This is a very forward-looking album from a personal perspective and a societal perspective,”
If you’ve bought the albums but never seen the band live, then this is the time to do it. The Guardian described them as “champions of stadium rock” so the Cardiff date is the perfect chance to catch them live. They get to the Motorpoint Arena on Friday 9th October.
If you pre-order the album by 4pm on Monday, March 16th you’ll get access to an exclusive pre-sale for tour tickets and you can do that here. PRE The pre-sale opens at 10am on Wednesday, March 18th and remains open until tickets go on general sale from 10am on Friday, March 20th here BIFFY
And by the way, we weren’t joking about the pens. They’re ready and waiting to give to CLIFFY BIRO………….