Indie rockers Snow Patrol (who performed at Avalon last Friday) are from Northern Ireland but formed the group in Scotland. Their fourth full-length album Eyes Open (Interscope) which they released on May 1 has only reached number 34 on the U.S. charts, but it was number one on the UK and Ireland charts.
Snow Patrol’s musical career had a sordid start– their original line-up was called Polarbear and included Belle and Sebastian guitarist Richard Coldburn– but the group was forced to change their name due to legal threats from former Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery, who has a band with the same name.
The group shifted in terms of both line-up and labels over the years, but their 2003 release Final Straw (Interscope/Polydor) saw a total of five singles, and they’re slated to release another five off of Eyes Open. Snow Patrol may not be for everyone- their tunes fit more easily into the “pop” category than “rock,” in my opinion, and at times it seems they are trying to be Coldplay. But I’d brave the Newbury Comics crowds to hear the undeniably catchy Final Straw-track “Spitting Games,” or “Same,” a ballad also off of Final Straw that was never released as a single but would undoubtedly be powerful as an acoustic number.
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