Snow Patrol
Final Straw
Polydor

Snow Patrol have never really succeeded in making large ripples in the music industry in the past. Only a limited number of people outside Scotland or Ireland will have ever heard of them via their prior album releases. In fact, most people worldwide will be more accustomed to the monster child of Snow Patrol - The Reindeer Section. Of course the Reindeers were more of a Scottish super-group, but were initially brought together by Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, who was running around at a Lou Barlow concert in Glasgow and securing the interest of the Scottish indie mafia.

Well, it turns out that Lightbody owes a hell of a lot more to Lou Barlow because Final Straw is a throwback to some of Sebadoh’s most emotional moments in a minor key. In the past I would have used this as an insult. Much of their older material was considerably weaker, and every so often there would be signs of much more potential, but they never produced enough to escape my ‘second-rate Sebadoh’ comments. Here in 2003, I still can’t quite escape the comparisons in my head, but now Snow Patrol have finally pulled out the songs and produced an album that’s surprisingly good and can stand proud on its own.

Final Straw kicks off with such delicate intent that it is difficult to fend off its advances. ‘How to be Dead’ may be a slow burner that continually threatens to tread over the territory of Travis and be completely dull, but it doesn’t happen. Instead it mixes that element of Sebadoh with the pop sensibilities of Crowded House, and dare I say it, it becomes the type of pop song that would actually sound good on the radio. Proceedings then become a tad more fuzzed up and energetic, leaving you sitting, rocking along with the music, maybe even tempting you to sing-a-long at times. Quite often the best tracks even finish too soon, but it’s better to leave you wanting more than being bored out of your brain.

So, there’s no doubt remaining that this is Snow Patrol’s finest work and that they’ve finally produced some fine slices of Indie Rock/Pop, capable of appealing to a wider audience. Forget the sound of summer. What’s captured here may be the sound of autumn, so let’s just hope that it doesn’t go to their heads, and that they succeed in keeping themselves above the murky waters of blandness.

Steven McCarron

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