Rock Turtleneck Is On Snow Patrol

With the awesomely-named SNOWMAGEDDON dumping record-breaking amounts all over the northeast corridor, my thoughts turn to the band Snow Patrol. And then they quickly turn away.

That's because they are probably the band in the world I know the least about. I couldn't name a single member, I have no idea how many members there are (at least until I uploaded this band picture), I don't know their country of origin (my guess would be Scotland) or how many albums they've made. The sole factoid I know about Snow Patrol is they have an LP called Songs for Polar Bears that has a gorgeous Elvis figurine on the cover.

But they do have two songs that I absolutely love. The first, 2007's "Shut Your Eyes," has an infectious kraut-rock guitar figure that reminds me of "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" by Wilco. I used to make a lot of party mix tapes in college specifically designed to take a shindig up a notch. "Shut Your Eyes" would have made a perfect opener - had it been recorded 20 or so years ago. It's rocking but not fist-pounding, the perfect song to nod your head to while you suck down those first couple of Strohs.

Here's the band, who I now know is a quintet, playing "Shut Your Eyes" at the most counterproductive rock festival of all time, Live Earth.


While preparing this post, I learned Snow Patrol also have a song called "Open Your Eyes," making them the only band I can think of with two songs with diametrically opposed song titles. It's like if The Beatles had, in addition to "Carry That Weight," a song called "Put Down that Weight."


The other tune I love by them is not an alternative radio smash like "Shut Your Eyes." It's one I came across rather randomly on iTunes called "Starfighter Pilot" which hails from the aforementioned Polar Bear tribute collection.

And what makes me think Snow Patrol might be a band with staying power is that "Starfighter Pilot" sounds nothing like "Shut Your Eyes" or "Open Your Eyes." In fact, it more closely recalls the punkier 90s Brit-pop of Blur.


Here's something else I learned about Snow Patrol: You can find all of these songs on their recent best-of called Up To Now on iTunes here.