Review Summary: Snow Patrol's overlooked debut mixes diverse influences beautifully
It's not surprising that Songs for Polarbears is overlooked. Snow Patrol struck gold with their pop oriented major label debut Final Straw, leaving their first two independent records in the dust. It is an incredible shame, as Songs for Polarbears is a very strong album displaying diverse musical styles, and some surprisingly mature lyrics.
Songs for Polarbears sprawls, similar to the way the White Album sprawls. There is no narrative, or connection between the songs, instead there is a beautiful mix of influences, spanning 23 songs. Where Snow Patrols later albums totally embraced the sound of Coldplay or Travis, this album mixes swooning Britpop sensitivity, on songs like Mahogany and Fifteen Minutes Old, with the crushing guitar rock of indie bands like Dinosaur Jr. and My Bloody Valentine. Songs like Downhill from Here, and Sticky Teenage Twin sounds shockingly heavy, especially coming from the band that brought you "Chasing Cars". Along with their guitar rock influences, Snow Patrol mixes in hip hop sounds, with turntables and drum machines joining the guitars on Absolute Gravity and When You're Right, You're Right. All these different sounds are brought together in a charming lo-fi mixture.
Lyrically this album mixes the beautifully earnest songwriting that shot Snow Patrol to fame, with clever, quirky, and at times angry wordplay. Veloctiy Girl, Jj, and Limited Edition are straight from the heart love songs, while T.M.T. reads like something Trent Reznor would write (And sounds like something from Coldplay). The writing occasionally gets repetitive, especially on My Last Girlfriend, but the lyrics are sung with shocking conviction.
What makes Songs for Polarbears special, and probably the strongest Snow Patrol release, is that it manages to balance everything out so fantastically. Too often bands get one dimensional, Snow Patrol eventually fell into this trap. On this album songs filled with vitriol are sung at ballad pace, and love songs are screamed. Cynicism and earnestness walk hand in hand. Pop sensibility and indie experimentalism combine. Songs for Polarbears has been all but forgotten, but anyone who appreciates creative, intelligent, heartfelt music should give it a try.
