Puzzle [UK Bonus DVD]

Personnel: Simon Neil (guitar, electric bass); John Pilskog, Clark Story, Simon James, Steve Bryant, Tim Garland (violin); Sue Jane Bryant, Scott Ligocki (viola); Rajan Krishnaswami, Dorothy Lawson (cello); Mike Norman (saxophone, keyboards); Ben Kaplan (keyboards).
Audio Mixer: Andy Wallace.
Recording information: Soundtrack New York Studios, New York, NY; Studio X, Seattle, WA; The Farm Studios, Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada; The Warehouse, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Photographer: Steve Gullick .
Although emo is often thought of as a direct descendent of punk and alternative, the genre's tricky song structures oftentimes teeter toward prog territory. Case in point: Puzzle, the fourth full-length by Ayrshire, Scotland's favorite sons, Biffy Clyro. While the riffs and singalong choruses bear a resemblance to Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, it's no secret that the members of this trio obviously know the ins and outs of their respective instruments -- this is certainly not the sound of a band still finding its footing. "Saturday Superhouse" somehow manages to not sound far removed from all the fresh-faced MTV darlings, while also including enough interesting bits to not sound like a mere mainstream rock rehash. Harder to pin down tracks such as "Who's Got a Match?" bring to mind the quirky pop of Supergrass, and "Semi-Mental" is comparable to Weezer -- if they spent more time studying their Rush records instead of Cheap Trick ones. Released in the U.K. several months ahead of the U.S., Puzzle already has a head start in the buzz sweepstakes -- it's a certified smash overseas (nearly topping the album charts at number two, while "Saturday Superhouse" almost reached the Top Ten on the singles charts). ~ Greg Prato