THE CD SINGLE LUCKY DIP (8) : Snow Patrol – Velocity Girl/Absolute Gravity

The origins of Snow Patrol date back to 1994 when Gary Lightbody (vocals and guitar), Mark McLelland (bass) and Michael Morrison (drums), three students from Northern Ireland who were studying at the University of Dundee, formed a band whom they named Shrug.  By 1996, the name had changed to Polarbear, and they had signed to Electric Honey Records, the in-house label at Stow College, Glasgow. It was around this time that Michael Morrison suffered a breakdown, quit the band and returned home.  The debut EP for Electric Honey, entitled  Starfighter Pilot, saw Richard Colburn of Belle & Sebastian lend a hand on drums, while lead singer Stuart Murdoch played keyboards and added some vocals.

Another name change came in 1997 – this time to Snow Patrol – and an offer was accepted to sign up with Jeepster Records (the label that a year previously had signed Belle & Sebastian via the Electric Honey route).  By this time, Jonny Quinn, another drummer from Northern Ireland, had joined.   There would be a number of releases in 1998, beginning with two singles Little Hide (February 1998) and One Hundred Things You Should Have Done In Bed (May 1998), with debut album Songs For Polarbears hitting the shops on 31 August.

None of the releases sold in any great numbers.  I was aware of the band’s name but knew nothing of their actual music.  It would have been later in the same year that I picked up second-hand CD copies of some of their releases, including what turned out to be a third single from the debut LP:-

mp3 : Snow Patrol – Velocity Girl (Sell Out edit)
mp3 : Snow Patrol – Absolute Gravity
mp3 : Snow Patrol – When You’re Right, You’re Right (Darth Vadar Bringing In His Washing Mix)

The first two songs can be found on the debut album, albeit this version of Velocity Girl (NOT a cover of the Primal Scream song) is slightly shorter.

These songs sound nothing at all like the material with which Snow Patrol would hit payola between 2004 and 2006 with the albums Final Straw and Eyes Open, along with the numerous hit singles they spawned.  The first few notes of Velocity Girl, and indeed the way Gary Lightbody delivers his vocal, is very reminiscent of Pavement, while Absolute Gravity has the sort of turntable action associated with Beck.  The additional track on the CD is a strange, improvised sounding number.

Very few people were interested in Jeepster-era Snow Patrol. Plenty of material ended up in bargain bins and even today, it can all be picked up for very modest sums on the likes of Discogs.

JC