Product Description

The late '90s found Scotland once again flying the indie-pop flag abandoned by the U.S. scene, and the one of the groups that followed in the footsteps of Belle & Sebastian, the Delgados, and Urusei Yatsura was a quartet of expat Irishmen called Snow Patrol. The group's debut full-length release, SONGS FOR POLARBEARS, is a fun collection of melodious three-chord indie-rock nuggets of noise, given context by Gary Lightbody's second-generation slack vocals and peppered with Tom Simpson's rhythm-inducing record-scratching.
Tracks like the new wave-friendly "Starfighter Pilot", the loud and thorny breakup rant "Get Balsamic Vinegar...Quick You Fool", and the soft, lazily yearning "Velocity Girl" expertly take their cues and references from the Americans who had defined this sound in the preceding past decade (Pixies, Pavement, Sonic Youth). But Simpson's nimble DJ-ing skill--scratches that reinforce the music's forward motion, samples that reiterate song points--clearly illustrate that Snow Patrol is going with the evolutionary flow rather than living in an indie nirvana circa 1994. SONGS FOR POLARBEARS boasts sonic joys aplenty.

Track Listing

1. Downhill From Here
2. Starfighter Pilot
3. Last Shot Ringing In My Ears
4. Absolute Gravity
5. Get Balsamic Vinegar...quick You Fool
6. Mahogany
7. NYC
8. Little Hide
9. Make Up
10. Velocity Girl
11. Days Without Paracetamol
12. Fifteen Minutes Old
13. Favourite Friend
14. 100 Hundred Things You Should Have Done In Bed

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1673 in Music
• Released on: 2000-09-01
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's a disservice to Snow Patrol to compare them to their more successful labelmates, but to say that Songs For Polar Bears sounds like Belle and Sebastian gone grunge should go some way to defining the skewed brilliance of this Northern Irish trio. Snow Patrol do some wonderful things to the conventions of fuzzy new-wave guitar-pop; pare it down into a melancholic hymn on "The Last Shot Ringing In My Ears", hyper-tense it into the caffeine buzz of "Starfighter Pilot", or let it dissipate altogether on the ethereal "Velocity Girl2. Songs For Polar Bears works because it's the polar opposite to club-footed cock rock; an album that sounds warmly empathetic, while others are all too eager to shoot their dull load of guitar machismo. That it's a little overlong is a shame--an earlier EP, "One Hundred Things You Should Have Done In Bed" was concise perfection--but Songs For Polar Bears feels like a tender bandage, while the rest of the world's rockers dully figure that if it hurts, it works. --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

Rewards the persistent listener
I bought this album after buying 'Final Straw', the band's third album, which got me into Snow Patrol. I decided I really liked what I was listening to, and so I went and bought the band's other two albums - this being one of them.

At first I was sorely disappointed by this album, because to put it simply, 'Songs for Polarbears' is no 'Final Straw' - not by a long way. This album is not as poppy and so I struggled to like this, even after repeated listens. I gave it time and persisted, and after a month or two I've found myself loving this album to pieces - at present, I'm rating this as their best album.

Gary Lightbody's vocals are as gorgeous as ever throughout this album, and the only set-back I see is that they can be a little difficult to interpret - ie. it's hard to listen out for words that he's singing. Nevertheless this is remedied by the lyrics in the sleeve - which is very useful when you find yourself wanting to sing along to the songs.

The tracks that I have to mention are the single 'One Hundred Things You Should Have Done in Bed' (great tune but too short!), 'NYC' (will probably be the first song you like) and my personal favourite, 'Fifteen Minutes Old', which I can't praise enough.

So if you bought 'Final Straw' or you've heard songs off that album, and you're wondering whether or not to buy this album, I recommend that you do. Don't expect fireworks at first, because you'll feel let down. Give this a chance and I almost guarantee you'll be rewarded for listening.

Yes, worthwhile
I've done the same as many others, started at Final Straw and worked backwards. - None will dissapoint. As you would expect this one is a little more rough around the edges but is probably better for it. Recommended.

I love songs that grow slowly on you!!!
I bought all 3 snow patrol albums in a backward order because the latest one (final straw)I loved it so much i played it to absolute death and so needed to get my teeth in to their past releases. Their second album I played to death as well, so then naturally bought 'Songs for polar bears'. I knew very well on the first listen it would take some time to get used to. I percivered (cant spell that word) and am in love with this. I think its brilliant. Its taken many listens but was certainly worth the wait It took and thats how i like albums. To grow slowly and develope into something great. I dont always pick up the tunes at first listen and have to let them grow. Thats a good way to get your moneys worth, 20 listens of getting used to and a 1000 listens of pure pleasure. I listen to this album on my head phones at the gym to drown out the poppy radio rubbish that drives me away early. A brilliant album by brilliant song writers. Well worth the cash.
PS, I like all the songs on this album as were I like only 85% on final straw!