Mark Sanders
Review:
November, 2004

Snow Patrol
Final Straw

(Universal)

http://www.universalmusic.com/

Yeah, I know it’s late in the year to be reviewing an already considerably hyped album released months ago. It’s just that Snow Patrol’s heady blend of straight-ahead rock, Americana and New Wave hooks takes awhile to digest. Final Straw, their third release (and first for corporate monolith Universal), shows these guys in top form, pursuing an increasingly generic, yet undeniably well-chosen form of alternative pop. These four young Irish guys began recording Final Straw right at the beginning of the latest Iraq war, while they were between record labels -- inauspicious signs that probably contributed to the paranoid vibe that is consistent throughout the album. Frontman Gary Lightbody, with a voice that croaks along in decidedly non-indie form, croons atop layers of distortion and synthesized blips reminiscent of Grandaddy (OK, I would say Radiohead, but that might lead you to think Snow Patrol sounded British, which they don’t). Guitars clash simplistically, rarely employing virtuosic solos or feats of glory, as does the other instrumentation. Maybe that’s a ploy, an effort to get listeners to pay attention to the superb, if overwrought, songwriting. Often, it works. While Final Straw probably won’t end up influencing any bands as much as, say, Nirvana’s Nevermind influenced Snow Patrol, this effort is a worthy addition to the time capsule labeled “The Sound of 2004.”

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Tin Hat Trio
Book of Silk

(Ropeadope)

http://www.ropeadope.com/

Evocative of David Lynch movies, 19th Century ghost towns and rural Appalachia, the Tin Hat Trio mines a particular vein of American music seldom explored by other acoustic groups. Their latest effort, Book of Silk, is its own world, containing characters and stories both engaging and endlessly romantic. Impressively, the trio weaves this story using only an accordion, a violin and guitar. Opening number “The Longest Night” is a somber lullaby, surging with layered violins and an Old World accordion harmony. It’s a song that doesn’t merely emote, but travels while doing so. Other songs follow a similar course, like the purely ethereal third track “Compay” and the album’s closer, “Empire of Light.” The trio’s past three efforts established the group as critical favorites, both because of their taut musicianship (all three are classically trained) and because of their bold shifts between styles. Artists they’ve collaborated with are as diverse as the music itself -- Tom Waits, Willie Nelson, Phish’s Jon Fishman and Medeski, Martin & Woods’ Billy Martin have all guested on past efforts, though despite the lack of marquee-worthy names on *Book of Silk*, the Tin Hat Trio persevere brilliantly. Within a single album, an entirely new, redemptive meaning has been given to the term “accordion music.”

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