Like most debut albums, Biffy Clyro's Blackened Sky functions as a sort of table of contents of its creators' record collections. In the case of this promising young Scottish trio, led by singer-songwriter Simon Neil, it's a safe bet that those collections would be assembled largely of American alternative rock of the late 1980s and early 90s, with particular emphasis on Nirvana, Fugazi and the Pixies. These influences can--and often do--result in supremely dreary records, less grunge than sludge, but Biffy Clyro are a good deal cleverer than that. They have an admirable knack for building songs on unorthodox time signatures without ever sounding fussy, and are able to shift from delicately drifting melodies to full throttle rock & roll without an audible grinding of gears--"The Go-Slow" and the winningly titled "Kill The Old, Torture Their Young" are particularly noteworthy in this respect. --Andrew Mueller