Blackened Sky

There’s power, purpose and, yes, the feel of gathering storm clouds on this first record from Ayrshire three-piece Biffy Clyro. Swimming upstream from the era’s dominant brand of detached indie, Simon Neil, and twin brothers Ben and James Johnston mine laid-back college rock (“27”), skittering revivalist grunge (“Convex, Concave”), and punishingly heavy riff bombardments (“The Go-Slow”) to devastating effect. Then there’s the rattling beat on “Solution Devices” which conjures nothing more than a racing heart–the perfect image for an assured, exhilarating debut.