Biffy Clyro were the band to be watching this month. Not content with launching a single for the awesome “One One Word Comes To Mind” from their third album, Infinity Land, they played a UK tour (which has now moved into a small European leg) and did several radio sessions and signings along the way. Their Zane Lowe session featured one of the finest covers of their carrer, a very Biffy reworking of Franz Ferdinand’s biggest hit, “Take Me Out”. ‘Mon the Biffy.
Biffy were supported by Hell Is For Heroes. They also released a new single this month to promote their forthcoming album, “Transmit/Disrupt”. The single, “Models For The Programme”, included a very nice piece of limited edition pink vinyl.
The Mars Volta finally followed up mind-blowing debut album, “De-Loused in The Comatorium”, with an album whose track titles are equally bizarre. “Frances The Mute” is a 5-track masterpiece (split into 13 tracks on the CD listing for legal reasons), each containing distinct (and named) movements. The first four tracks sound essentially like an astonishing intro for 30-minute finale, Cassandra Geminni (yes that is the correct spelling.) Even this early on, a contender for album of the year.
Preparing to get back into full touring mode for their new album, Idlewild played a short acoustic set in Glasgow. Playing on the release date of the first single, “Love Steals Us From Loneliness”, the set mixed up old favourites with some new numbers. While the band have certainly moved away from their punk indie roots, the new sound is pleasant enough.
RockRage put up a number of band fonts, which should be a good resource for fan sites and those interested in typography (there are some very nice fonts in there).
Reel Big Fish announced that their new album will be called “We’re Not Happy Til You’re Not Happy”, which will include an update of one of their finer songs, “Beer”. Let’s hope they don’t ruin it.
Queens Of The Stone Age unveil their first single since the band suffered major line-up changes (basically, Nick and Mark left or were kicked out, depending on who you ask). “Little Sister” seems slightly toned down from previous work in terms of driving guitar riffs, but with drumming that suits the mellower sound.