| Current music: | Coldplay - The Scientist |
| Entry tags: | music |
Open Up Your Eyes
It must be hard to be a synth pop band from the British Isles. After all, for all its cushy sentiment, Coldplay has put an effective stranglehold on America's taste for imported wimp rock. Don't get me wrong, I'm among the many who have swallowed their gallon of the Coldplay Kool-Aid. Their brand of music has become so well-liked in the States that every band whose sound reaches the radio on this side of the pond is immediately compared to them. Every vocalist is a "raspy" or "stronger" Chris Martin, every guitar hook echoes one song or another from A Rush of Blood to the Head. Though most would imagine that Coldplay's popularity built a transatlantic bridge for like minded British artists, perhaps it's the very reason that, until their song "Run" turned into a megahit after appearing on the teen drama of the day on the WB, a band like Snow Patrol didn't make waves on American airwaves.
The band's newest album, Eyes Open, tries to make the leap to a much bigger sound than the catalog that had them lumped in with Coldplay and Belle & Sebastian. 2003's Final Straw started that transition, with "Run" and another great number, "Chocolate," but popping this disc into the player tells you right away that Snow Patrol means it this time. The first two tracks, "You're All That I Have" and "Hands Open" ready the listener for a stadium-rocking set of balladesque, up-tempo numbers. The latter throws a bone to the indie kids who played the band's stuff on college radio, saying "Put Sufjan Stevens on / and we'll play your favorite song." It's lead singer Gary Lightbody's way of saying "we're trying to sound more radio friendly, but we're still hip, you guys." Both numbers are energetic, romantic, familiar, and unique all at the same time. They set the table for a huge album. Unfortunately, there's not much sustenance beyond the opening course.
"Chasing Cars," the third track, is a nice bit of forgettable alternative pop, and if there were fewer songs that sound exactly like it on the album, it would stand out. Instead, it lulls the listener into a pattern that refuses to excite anybody. Again, the Coldplay comparisons seem unfair, but it's like listening to "Daylight" bleed into "Green Eyes" and back again. One must-listen is Lightbody's sweet duet with Martha Wainwright on "Set Fire to the Third Bar."
Individually, each of the tracks on Eyes Open is very listenable and, in most cases, very good. Lightbody's earnest lyrics and hungry singing make the music quite enjoyable. It even makes a case for a further exploration of the band, further beyond Final Straw. As a collective though, they form an album that starts by rocking the rafters, quickly declines, and plateaus in the mezzanine.
Rating: * * * of 5
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sjuhawk31) wrote,
