Final Straw

Product Details

Final Straw, third album from Glasgow-based quintet Snow Patrol, is a darker, nastier and altogether bleaker beast than anything they've produced before. These are ostentatiously pop melodies that have been locked up in a basement, blindfolded over night and subjected to gleefully twisted torture and cruelty until they've squealed. The bruised, distorted (yet basically acoustic) "Wow" highlights this methodology best, producing an ugly princess of a song that sounds like U2 from the Achtung Baby era. There's even handclapping over a dangerously fuzzed-up guitar riff on "Tiny Little Fractures". Lead single "Spitting Games" is what the Thrills will sound like in 10 years time if a decade's worth of rock & roll excess takes its toll--it possesses the kind of catchy, fuzzed-up, demented bumblebee guitar hook that most bands spend their careers searching for.

"Chocolate" is more introspective, with its undulating drum pattern and fairy background guitar--"On my knees I'll think clearer...what have I done? What have I become?" croons Gary Lightbody with lethargic despair and weary horror. Less is most definitely more on "Grazed Knees", which sounds like some of Feeder's quirkier and quieter moments, backed up by a stirring, perfectly placed string section. Special mention must go to Garret Lee's production, which drops imperfections, crackles and white noise randomly into the mix to startling effect. Intelligent, interesting, honest, diverse and ever so slightly screwed up--what more could you want from a rock 'n' roll record? --Cortman Virtue