Biffy Clyro - 'Who's Got A Match'
Web-animators, if you were looking for the ideal song to use to accompany a cartoon you've been working on, in which a gang of satanic imps dances about in a nasty ritualistic fashion, before pouring out of hell's gates on their way to some kind of party (maybe one of them is getting married, or is having a significant imp birthday - his 500th, maybe), well, your search may be over. And if you're not gifted in the creation of little dancing demons for the delight of your YouTube friends, try and use your imagination instead. I have, and it's brilliant!
Don't get me wrong, it's not like Biffy are one of those bands who invokes satanic imagery just because that's what rock bands are supposed to do. They haven't mentioned the devil once, and it's possible that the 'fire' to which the lyrics refer could be a metaphorical nod towards any heightened emotional state - from sexual arousal to having the mosh of your life.
It's just there is something genuinely unsettlingly gleeful about this song, a deliberate collision of good and evil, which brings to mind these happy little demons having the time of their eternal existances. You can hear it in the pilfered rhythm from Queens Of The Stone Age's primal dark ritual 'No-One Knows', which has been forced to cross-fertilise with the melody from (the verses to) Abba's heavenly 'Lay All Your Love On Me'.
(As an aside, comic book fans will recognise this cross-fertilisation idea as the main theme behind the amazing 'Preacher', in which a new cosmic entity is created after an angel and a demon have an affair. The only trouble with mentioning this in the context of a music review is that the child - who has powers equal to that of God himself, and has taken up residence in the mind of a Texas preacher called Jesse Custer - is called Genesis. This is not a word you want to introduce lightly when discussing a new song by a hot band.)
So, even though it's by no means original, or ground-breaking, there's something about the wayward glee with which the band attacks this unholy racket which suggests a whole heap of uncontrollable situations, and they all play out before your eyes as you listen.
So far this morning, I've seen a knees-up for bad people, drunken sailors making merry with a seaport they know they'll be leaving in the morning, and leaving no shop window unsmashed in the process. Then there's the happiness of bad juju, a monkey-hand from a vicar, suphuric acid candy floss, a toffee-apple with razor-blades inside, a friendly hug from the neighbourhood thug, Dennis the Menace putting a stinkbomb in Softy Walter's perfumed boudoir.
In short, 'Who's Got A Match' is bad news, in good news form, and as such, is totally irresistable.
Download: Out now
CD Released: February 4th
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comments
this song is amazing and even though you all look like proper geeks ye still prety cool
This is an ace song, by an ace band. Love Biffy Clyro! Everyone buy the single!