Biffy Clyro
Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies

i'm a spelling tard

it sounds like a poor mans foo fighters? seriously people, this single is dreadful. still, its not as irritating as edith bowman frothing about them at least.

x

is fucking gash. love has a diamter, folding stars, who's got a fucking match? not me pal, you can fish for a light elsewhere. they were never going to top tVoB although infinity was a decent effort. who's got a match is laughable, what a fucking joke of a band these guys have turned into. such a parallel of their former selves. i used to idolise this band and never in my wildest dreams would have though they'd turn into this. it's a crying shame when a band like aereogramme has to call it quits because of financial difficulties and then this piffle gets promoted everywhere and starts hitting the charts. shame on you simon neil.

then good luck to them. They were never as small as Snow Patrol anyway....

What other band would have the balls to release a single like this, and get away with it?

Just because they're not content to exist in the indie ghetto for the rest of enternity and that they're not afraid to write big tunes that might actually get them a big following, you can't handle it.

This song has the genius to be absolutely mental, to have insane lyrics, sound enormous, and still have a huge hooky chorus. How on earth is that becoming a joke?

was how fundamentally wrong that is.

Surely, if ever 2 bands have got track records and names that say "eternal mediocre indie stardom never converted into mainstream success" its these two

the fact they both might sell some (whisper it) records, shows the world has indeed gone mad

What next? Seafood????

yes they were. they didn't immediately start playing to 2,000 people.

this page is utterly rife with indie snobbery! It never fails to amaze me how many "fans" desert any band that actually finds itself, gets more accomplished and puts out music that will reach more people than a few geeky indie student types who only like stuff that nobody else has discovered yet.

I still let out a hearty laugh (followed by a few tears) when some idiot says that Idlewild's "The Remote Part" is shit and they should go back to the kind of badly played throwaway thrash punk they were peddling when they hadn't a clue what they were doing except making a noise. There's a similar group of fools who think Snow Patrol are automatically now shit because they sell millions of records. Try listening to "Eyes Open" folks, it's choc full of excellent songs, no wonder it's popular with so many people.

And so we come to Biffy, always a talented band, but one that seemed to restrain its natural urge to create anthemic rock songs by adding as much weirdness as possible into the mix. This of course, delighted the snobbish indie geeks, who thought they'd never be accessible enough to get in the charts. That made them a safe haven for these people and is probably why the band's fanbase became so dedicated and fiercely defensive. Now Biffy spreads its wings and you can see those pathetic snobs, scurrying away like vermin to the next underground band they can call their own.

Well done to Cody for not pandering to this and telling it like it is - i.e. every now and then the nation displays good taste and embraces quality music. It doesn't follow that your favourite bands automatically become shit as soon as they become popular.

In fact, I'd bet my bottom dollar that if this record had bombed there'd be hundreds of Biffy fans outraged that the general public couldn't like such a brilliant, yet also accessible, song (while secretly breathing a collective sigh of relief that Biffy remained their little secret).

Final word: If anyone deserves success, to play bigger venues and spread their word, it's the honest, hardworking trio that is Biffy Clyro. If you are begrudging them that then you are not and never have been a real fan.

shakeandbake is spot on. Biffy Clyro have crafted some well-written songs which the usual morons interpret as 'selling out' because it makes daytime radio. From interviews a lot of these songs were gut-wrenchingly personal for Simon Neil - how can this represent a compromise of his musical integrity? No one lambasted the Beatles for writing pop songs did they? I hope that 'Puzzle' will make Biffy Clyro the chart-straddling colossus they deserve to be...

I wasn't slagging off these bands (though I really could do for several hours; note: to be an indie mind-changing snob, you actually have to LIKE THE BANDS IN THE FIRST PLACE). It's just that by their very names, looks and material they really don't strike me as bands destined for great things.

I expect some of you will misinterpret that and say "So you have to be fit to be in a band? What about Radiohead / Gossip / etc"

And I'd argue... well, yeah. Generally you do, if your music isn't ridiculously awesome. But these days all you need is a myspace page and a 6/10 from NME.

And hey presto!

If Biffy Clyro get success, then well done to them. It won't change my mind or life in any way; I'll still not buy their records, Xfm will likely still play the same 6 songs to death everyday and they can buy their mum's decent Christmas presents this year.

There's just something a bit odd about a world where, and I reiterate, Biffy Clyro and Snow Patrol are nationaal heroes...

before Final Straw came out, I had never heard of Snow Patrol. With Biffy Clyro, I'd heard of them long before their 2nd album was even released.

"compromised their musical integrity for a few more album sales"? What utter bollocks. That implies they're in it for the money, which is plainly complete nonsense. They WANTED to make this music; it is part of their evolution as a band. If you don't like it fair enough, but these sorts of accusations are grossly unfair.

and Foo Fighters sound nothing like a cross between Nirvana and Sugar, do they? And Nirvana sounded nothing like a cross between Pixies and Mudhoney, did they? And Pixies sounded nothing like a cross between The Replacements and Husker Du, did they?

You could play the "sounds like" game all day. If you think there's anything entirely new out there you've just not heard what influenced it.

if i have to listen to pop rock songs, i'd sure as hell want to hear the biffy doing it over some fashion hyped band in the nme. but i don't like that kinda of stuff, regardless of it being biffy clyro or the foo fighters. this is the total opposite of what i loved about them in the first place. these guys changed my life for the better and i'll always love love love love the first 2 records (IL was pretty good too) but the new stuff lacks the snippets of ideas, the interesting structures and the wow factor of say, toystoystoys,kill the old, ideal height or now the action. the earlier stuff is innovative, fresh and takes you by surprise but i've heard all the new stuff before. p.s. living is a problem is a massive pop rock song which i think is great (they hit it on the head with that single) and i can handle a few of them on a biffy record (questions + answers, 57) but not a whole albums worth. what i'm trying to get at is, if it wasn't biffy clyro putting out who's got a match (and not knowing their past records) would anyone give a fuck?

If they just reproduced Vertigo of Bliss over and over again wouldn't everyone have a go about that as well?

Most people knew this was going to be a poppier album and I for one was well prepared for some of it's middle of the road tracks. It's still Biffy and it's still good, just a bit more mainstream, is that really such a big crime?

I think it's pretty ballsy to make such a poppier record knowing the indie backlash they faced from some of their notoriously hardcore fanbase. It would have been easier to stick with their established formula but they haven't, so what?

i like this guys style.

Monsieur Cynical! I guess bands change because they'd get pretty bored and unfulfilled if they didn't. Whether it's for the better or worse is a subjective view, but I think making them out to be corporate whores is inaccurate and unfair. As for the fcuking NME, the sooner the entire population boycotts that filthy, evil, bandwagon-jumping, back-stabbing, bullsh*t-spouting rag, the better.

you therefore conceed that the U-turn in sound and the change of labels/ditching of long time producer prior to this is one happy coincidence?

give this guy a biscuit. he deserves it!

I saw them both supporting Llama Farmers - Snow Patrol in Norwich around 1998 or 1999-ish, and Biffy Clyro in Hull early 2001-ish.

So I think that they've both done the hard yards; nobody can say that they've achieved success easily nor quickly.

For what it's worth, I take it or leave it as far as Snow Patrol go, but I reckon Biffy are absolutely fantastic. I've seen them over 15 times now (including some real shit-holes) and have all 4 albums, and I think that they're really at the peak of their powers now. I can't stand people who stop liking a band just because they've become popular and it's no longer "cool" and "underground".

There's far too much of the "they-used-to-be-just-my-band-but-now-everyone-likes-them" syndrome around these days.

In any case, I don't think you can really compare these 2 bands in terms of status - Snow Patrol are far bigger in terms of radio play etc.

And it's not as if Biffy have made a total departure from their style or genre in order to gain mainstream popularity, unlike those other Scottish radio darlings Idlewild. Now there's another story entirely!