Snow Patrol

A Hundred Million Suns (Geffen)

By Christine Werthman
Published: October 18th, 2008 | 9:00am

Snow Patrol’s music is so perfectly constructed for a TV teen drama that you might feel a wave of embarrassment come over you if accidentally naming the group when asked, “Who are you listening to?” But with such an instantly gratifying sound, it’s hard not to enjoy this band. Listen to a Snow Patrol album one night, and you’ll probably wake up with one of the group’s hooks in your head and maybe your heart on your sleeve, because the band’s uncomplicated approach makes for catchy songs. A Hundred Million Suns again delivers the accessible goods; but nothing pops or wedges itself into your brain quite like past tracks “Hands Open,” or “Chasing Cars.”

Snow Patrol has morphed since its early years. With 1998 debut album, Songs For Polar Bears, the band had fewer righteous guitar riffs, quirkier song titles (see “Get Balsamic Vinegar...Quick You Fool”), and took more chances — sometimes regrettable ones, like the turntable scratches on the debut’s “Absolute Gravity” track. But the agitation and broader sound selections are now gone, replaced with the slickest of production. The slickness is not entirely lacking in appeal, and it clearly makes the band’s music hit commercially, but it leaves something to be desired — like spontaneity or a sense of humor.

The smoothed-out sounds have not erased every redeeming quality about Snow Patrol: Lead singer Gary Lightbody still delivers his hoarse and quivering vocal lines, making acute lyrical observations like, “Two weeks later / Like a surplus reprieve / I found a hair the length of yours on my sleeve,” on “If There’s a Rocket Tie Me To It.” The ballads are still spot-on sensitive without being whiny, and the up-tempo numbers will eventually stick in your head. You may just have to listen to them a few extra times.

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