"Whenever
we go anywhere new, we're
like kids in a huge empty
house. We want explore all
these big spaces, climb
into the attic and rake
among boxes and get down
into the basement and find
the stuff that has been
stashed away. For us the
world could never be too
big.." Gary Lightbody
The same
no frills sense of adventure
informs Final Straw, Snow
Patrol's third album. Already
established as a heart-crushing
mix of distorted British
pedal rock and US alternative
guitar pop on home soil,
the album sees the band
grow up, fill out and with
some aplomb, make one of
the best British records
you'll hear this year.
But success
hasn't come easily and the
Snow Patrol back-story began
way back at Dundee University
in 1994 when Lightbody bumped
into guitarist, Mark McClelland.
"Our eyes met across
the crowded dance floor,"
says Lightbody. "I
knew he was the one for
me. We clicked musically
and we liked the same bands,
so we thought 'Why not start
one of our own?' That was
the beginning of Snow Patrol."
Well,
not quite. The first band
name picked out by the duo
was Polar Bear, a title
also being used by ex-Jane's
Addiction bassist, Eric
Avery. When the threat of
a lawsuit loomed, Lightbody
and McClelland had a rethink
and went for the equally
wintry Snow Patrol. Still
they had the last laugh
and after signing to Scotland's
Jeepster records (home to
Belle and Sebastian, among
others), the three piece,
now with drummer Jonny Quinn
in place, released their
cheekily-titled debut, Songs
For Polar Bears in 1998.
The trio's
far-ranging influences bled
through on the album which
was later hailed by critics
as an infectious pop punk
racket with a distorted,
amp-popping twist. "Basically
our favourite bands were
poured into it and at the
time we were under the influence
of American rock - the Pixies,
Dinosaur Jr, Soundgarden
- but we were listening
to My Bloody Valentine and
the first Super Furry Animals
album too."
Another
album, When It's All Over
We Still Have To Clear Up,
followed in 2001, but by
now the relationship between
the band and Jeepster was
fraying - a parting of the
ways was imminent. "It
happened at a strange time,"
says Lightbody. "Everybody
was into garage rock and
there was talk of changing
our name to 'The' something."
As the
anxiety eased, the band
decided to stick with their
original title (Lightbody:
"The last thing we
wanted to do was to change
the name and carry on playing
Snow Patrol songs")
and began writing Final
Straw. In the meantime,
Lightbody recorded an album
with his solo project The
Reindeer Section, which
also included such Scottish
luminaries as Idlewild,
Arab Strap and Norman Blake
of Teenage Fanclub.
Their
self-belief soon paid off
and, with demos for The
Final Straw in circulation,
the band were quickly snapped
up by Polydor imprint, Fiction
and dropped into the studio
with techno lynchpin, Garret
Lee, aka Jacknife Lee. By
now they had picked up an
extra guitarist too, former
HMV worker, Nathan Connolly.
Having been introduced to
the band, Connolly was door
stepped until he reluctantly
agreed to join. "My
mum thought I was being
kidnapped by rock stars,"
he sighs.
The resulting
album has proved to be Snow
Patrol's most head-spinning
work to date - a swooping
attack of distorted guitar,
fizzing drum beats and woozy
pop anthems laced with enough
heartache to fill an ocean.
And with the themes of lost
love and the very real horror
of the Iraqi conflict influencing
Lightbody's lyrics, The
Final Straw is raw emotion
made flesh.
"I
think it's the first time
I've written about something
other than my own problems,"
says Lightbody. "It
was a really scary time
and that war impacted on
the album. There's still
the theme of relationships
on there too, but there's
always been that on Snow
Patrol albums. I never write
about the nice bits where
the relationship starts,
it's always about when the
chaos kicks in at the end."
Final
Straw is hair-tingling stuff.
Received to wide ranging
critical acclaim upon its
release last year, its impact
was almost immediate. Both
singles, Spitting Games
and Run were championed
by Radio One. The band,
meanwhile, picked up some
notable admirers and last
year, beardy prog-rockers,
Grandaddy took them on a
sold out UK tour.
But with
a new year comes a new challenge.
An NME Brats show occurs
in January, before the release
of 'Run' on Jan 26th. It
has already been hailed
as a classic, and as talk
turns to levels of ubiquity,
the band are set to embark
on their first US tour where
big things are already expected.
"It's flattering to
know that much is expected
of us," says Lightbody.
"We just haven't thought
about obtaining that level
of success, but that's not
to say we're not prepared
for it, because we are.
I just hope that at the
end of the day I can still
pop down to the supermarket
to pick up my milk. I don't
want to get too much hassle
when all I really want is
a brew."
Snow Patrol
have spent the latter part
of 2005 and early 2006 in
studio recording their new
album 'Eye's Open' which
is due for release on May
1st, a week after releasing
their new single 'You're
All I Have' on April 24th.
Snow Patrol expects their
latest album to be even
more electrifying than their
previous album which scored
the charts in 2004 (Final
Straw) with a different
line-up after McCleland
left the band in March 2005,
featuring their new bassist
Paul Wilson. The eskimo's
continue to impress us all...