By Chris Moore:
Greetings from the other side of the midnight chimes — this is your latest (and late) Laptop Session! Tonight, I bring you a new band to the sessions… Snow Patrol. Specifically, this is “Run,” the seventh track of their 2003 album Final Straw. This album was first recommended to me by then-fellow Staples Copy Center employee John Fortin, after he heard the Chris, Jim, and Becky album Live in the Studio. He said, based on our album, he thought I might enjoy the band.
At first, I liked the album, but I wasn’t crazy about it. It became one of those albums you go back to every so often, and over time, I grew to like it more and more. Recently, as I went back to both this album and their subsequent one, Eyes Open, I fell in love with the songs of Final Straw. The next album is solid, but lacks the hooks and flairs — really, the strength of individual tracks that are great and stand on their own — of the 2003 release.
My sister has also become a fan of Snow Patrol, so I hope that she gets a chance to read this post and check out the video. Jaime and I have fairly divergent tastes in music, but we have found much more overlap in the past few years — we can especially agree on the awesome-ness of Ben Folds and Elliott Smith! We actually both had a similar reaction to the new Snow Patrol single, “Take Back the City.” Specifically, we were hesitant about the new album based on the strength of this track. I can’t speak for her, but I know that — for me — the song seemed a bit forced at first, as if they were trying to make a hit single that could climb the charts as well as their last big hit, “Chasing Cars,” did. Really, though, what was most off-putting to me was what I initially interpreted as being a line — “God knows you’ve put your life into it tons.” Tons? Really? Is this the poetry I’m rushing to the store to purchase?
Well, those of you who know me will check this off on the list of times that I misinterpret something due to an accent. (Stories for another time…) The line is really “God knows you’ve put your life into its hands.” Lead singer Gary Lightbody’s Irish accent through me off. And, while I’m in a confessional mode, can I also admit that one of the factors that has always prevented me from entirely liking the band was the way Lightbody sings? Yes, it’s true… It took me until a few weeks ago to research and discover that they’re an Irish band. How I didn’t figure that out before is beyond me! But, now that I know, I’ve been going through a Snow Patrol renaissance of sorts.
Their 2008 release, A Hundred Million Suns, is — in my opinion — their best work since Final Straw. I was hesitant to buy it at first, based on their 2006 album and the aforementioned single. But, I’m really glad I did buy it. The opening track “If There’s a Rocket Tie Me to It” is one of my favorite track ones in a long time. Track two, “Crack the Shutters,” is one of my favorite songs on the album and would have been my choice for a single (To date, it has reached #9 on the iTunes alternative rock charts!). Then, track three is the single. Track four, “Lifeboats,” slows it down a bit and is another of my favorites. And it goes on from there…
I found it really interesting to read that the band considered this to be a more upbeat and “cheerful” album than previous releases. I didn’t really interpret it that way, but that could just be my current state of mind. Regardless, I do agree with their statement that it is their best album to date.
Well, that’s enough ranting and rambling about Snow Patrol for one post! In other news, I broke down and bought the first season of the Chappelle show, with hopes that Jim will want to watch some of the episodes. So far, I’ve only watched the first episode, which includes not only my favorite sketch (the Clayton Bigsby, black white supremacist skit) but also the Pop Copy sketch that so wonderfully makes fun of my previous profession as a Staples Copy Center employee! So, as you see, this post really comes full circle. It started with a band that was recommended to me by a Copy Center co-worker and ends with me going off to watch Pop Copy!
But, before I go, I should also mention that I have not made my last post of the day. The Laptop Sessions archive has plenty more acoustic rock cover fun — stay tuned!
See you next session!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.