Category: Tunes

Tunes

Best tunes of 2003: #13 Snow Patrol “Spitting games”

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date March 13, 2024
2 Comments on Best tunes of 2003: #13 Snow Patrol “Spitting games”

Snow Patrol got started in Dundee, Scotland way back in 1994 when Gary Lightbody formed a band with university friends Mark McClelland and Michael Morrison. Of course, they went through a few name changes and struggled mightily before settling on the moniker we now know and signing to indie label Jeepster, original home to another Scottish indie band we love*. Unfortunately, the struggles didn’t end there, seeing an almost complete turnover in personnel and middling sales and critical reception of their first two records. They were dropped by Jeepster in 2001 but it turned out to be the best thing to happen to them, because they were signed to Fiction less than two years later and sent to the studio to record their major label debut.

“Final straw”, Snow Patrol’s third record, was where I came in. I don’t remember now exactly how I heard about the group or the record, but I definitely remember that it was never a grower. I was hooked to the sound of the album right away. I bought the album on CD**, something I wasn’t doing a lot of at the time, given my lack of disposable income. And when I went back to sample the music of the previous two albums, I didn’t find them nearly as compelling. So something truly clicked here.

“It’s not as if I need the extra weight
Confused enough by life so thanks a lot”

“Spitting games” was the first of five singles to be released off the record. It was and still is my favourite of the bunch. At just shy of four minutes, it is one of the longer tracks, especially on the first side but it is no less driving, nor hard-hitting for all that. It is brash and breathless, starting off all guns ablaze, a punishing drum beat and raging guitars, and it never really lets up. The verses all have the same energy as the non-chorus, where Lightbody just lends his voice to a raging wordless melody. It all leads to the feeling of nervousness and anxiety of someone that has feelings that he doesn’t know what to do with, the confusion of youth and the uncertainties of love.

“Spitting games” is a track, much like the rest of the album, that is raw and passionate and hints at the success that the band will find a few years later.

*Um, Belle & Sebastian.

**And I’ve since replaced that with a copy on vinyl.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2003 list, click here.

Tags 2000s, 2003, Alternative, Best tunes, Gary Lightbody, Indie, Indie rock, Power pop, Scottish, Snow Patrol

Tunes

Best tunes of 2013: #22 The Veils “Another night on Earth”

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date March 5, 2024
2 Comments on Best tunes of 2013: #22 The Veils “Another night on Earth”

<< #23 | #21 >>

At the end of last year while counting down my favourite albums of the year, I noted that there wasn’t nearly enough references to and content devoted to The Veils, and that I really wanted to rectify that situation. Well, as luck would have it, the next song up on my list of favourite tunes from 2013 is by the very same band.

I had been following the London, England (by way of Auckland, New Zealand) -based band for almost a decade already by the time their fourth record came out. I’d loved every single song I’d heard by The Veils. There just weren’t enough superlatives in the English language to describe their style, the battle of darkness and light, the theatricality, the imagery made palpable by sound, and above all, the passion and emotion of their frontman, songwriter and principal vocalist, Finn Andrews. He was a storyteller in the vein of Lou Reed and Nick Cave, but for some reason, I connected with him much more than I did the other two.

“Time stays, we go” was in no way a letdown from the previous three. It’s front cover was an arresting image of a familial home consumed by fire. The title was an encapsulation of one of Andrew’s oft-explored existential themes. The songs were by turns intense and light in sound but told stories and expressed feelings to which all of us can relate, like it or not.

The penultimate track on the album is this super upbeat number that starts off with a piano line that seems to be dancing away from its player. The drums, when they appear, are snappy and full of confetti. The guitars serve up a breeze to get everything fluttery and then carry upwards the exhaling trumpet sounds. It’s all a shade, however, because “Another night on Earth” is really a sad song posing as something happy, espousing the many ways the world can drag you down into the depths and pondering the worth of it all.

“I hope I don’t go ’til I’ve seen everything
I hope I don’t go ’til I’ve felt everything”

After it all, though, our hero Finn Andrews isn’t quite ready throw in the towel… and neither should any of us.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2013 list, click here.

Tags 2010s, 2013, Alternative, Alternative Rock, Best tunes, Finn Andrews, Indie, Indie rock, The Veils

Tunes

Best tunes of 1993: #5 Teenage Fanclub “Hang on”

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date March 1, 2024
6 Comments on Best tunes of 1993: #5 Teenage Fanclub “Hang on”

<< #6 | #4 >>

I’ve previously shared words on how I discovered Scottish alt-rock quartet Teenage Fanclub while watching music videos on CityLimits back in 1991. It wasn’t long after this that someone in my group of friends picked up a copy of the band’s third album, “Bandwagonesque”, and I was able to record a copy to cassette for constant consumption in my walkman. To say that I became a fan of the fannies was only putting it mildly*. And I wasn’t the only one, obviously, because the album actually did surprisingly well here in North America. And although their success continued afterwards in Europe, interest mostly waned after ears were mostly tuned to everything coming out of Seattle.

For my part, I was practically foaming at the mouth when word came of the impending release of “Thirteen” and I wasn’t disappointed in the least**. I purchased it on compact disc as soon as I was able and put it through its paces, not caring in the least that the raw and often shambolic messes from the previous record had been cleaned up some, the juvenile pranks replaced by well-crafted pop songs, each tip-toeing along the razor wire between rough and smooth sounds. I caught these differences right away, with track one, “Hang on”, a beautiful (almost) ballad penned by Gerard Love.

“Been bought and I’ve been sold
And I’ve forgot what I’ve been told
And now I need someone”

Those are the words that kick off Love’s crooning. But before that, we are awoken by a muscular guitar lick and punishing drums to match. It builds in power, threatening some metal antics, drumming becomes rapid fire and guitars speed up towards thrash zone. And then suddenly, it all melts away into Beatle-esque heaven, complete with angelic harmonies to Love’s own soft touch. The muscular guitars are still there but they just a backdrop and then, when the flutes kick in towards the last third of the song, it doesn’t seem out of place at all. You just close your eyes and get lost in the melody.