SOUND BITES

  When The Killers burst onto the scene a little over fifteen years ago, peddling their synth-heavy '80s rock revival by way of multi-platinum smash Hot Fuss , a lot of folks figured the success the result of a fad. When their follow-up ( Sam's Town , which I personally enjoyed more) sold half, those folks seemed like they were onto something. When sales of 2008's Day & Age were half of that again, a lot of folks assumed The Killers were pretty much finished. To their credit, they soldiered on with a fourth record ( Battle Born , which sold half yet again) four years later, and then a fifth five years after that (2017's Wonderful, Wonderful ), which... you guessed it, sold half again. Still, a big hit in the age of the internet goes a long way. That triple platinum debut album spawned Mr. Brightside , not just the band's most enduring hit but in fact one of the most enduring hits by anyone ever; sixteen years after its release, it's still universally loved,

  Absolutely massive in Europe and criminally underrated in North America. Such is the continuing narrative for Scottish genre-hopping stadium rockers Biffy Clyro, and their eighth official album (ninth if you count last year's scattershot soundtrack Balance, Not Symmetry , which most outlets are wont to do despite A Celebration of Endings being given the working title Opus 8 during production) isn't likely to change that momentum on either side of the Atlantic. If anything, the more accessible and pop-leaning tendencies that started coming more to the forefront over the past few albums have been clawed back with only a couple of exceptions. Instead, Biffy Clyro seem to have recaptured some of the adventurous, unpredictable spirit that set them apart from the legions of post-grunge/indie also-rans during their slow and steady rise. Sure, there are reminders that they've developed a knack for big hooks, most notably on lead single/red herring Instant History and current s