SNOW PATROL play Massey Hall April 17. See listing. Rating: NNN
If you’re a Snow Patrol fan and worried about all this talk of their moving in a new experimental electronic direction, have no fear. They’re still the same vaguely indie inoffensive stadium rock band they’ve always been, but now with a light sprinkling of dance beats and synths. The transformation isn’t nearly as dramatic as the band itself seems to think, but the new direction is a good one.
The problem is, they don’t commit to it enough. In the first few songs they stretch themselves creatively and come up with promising results, but halfway through it’s back to overwrought ballads and middle-of-the-road mid-tempo rock songs. Does the world really need an even more conservative Coldplay? Having said that, the first half does prove that a radio-friendly combination of earnest Arcade Fire crescendos and LCD Soundsystem dance rock grooves is actually a pretty good idea.
Top track: Fallen Empires
