Gary Lightbody and Mark McClelland founded Snow Patrol while attending the University of Dundee in Scotland. After adding drummer Jonny Quinn in 1997, they released their moody Starfighter Pilot EP, which landed them a deal with the U.K. label Jeepster. But it wasn't until the next year — and the release of Songs For Polar Bears — that the group really began to cause a commotion. The disc is a swirl of darkly colored songs that effortlessly channel the melodic heartbreak of classic '80s alternative rock, and it clearly mapped out where they'd be going. The finesse of subsequent recordings, including 2001's When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up and 2003's Final Straw (produced by Jacknife Lee) is due in no small part to the band's aggressive tour schedule and live performance prowess.

McClelland left the band in 2005, and was replaced by Paul Wilson, formerly of Terra Diablo. Officially also on Patrol now are guitarist Nathan Connolly and keyboardist Tom Simpson. Good friends with former labelmates Belle and Sebastian, Snow Patrol has over the years nicked one or all of them to fill in on tour or contribute to their recordings.

Snow Patrol partnered with Jacknife Lee again for 2006’s Eyes Open, which contained an endless font of solid tracks including "You're All I Have," "Shut Your Eyes" and "Chasing Cars." Before releasing 2008’s A Hundred Million Suns (also produced by Lee), they offered up "Signal Fire," a key entry on the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack, and "Isolation," which appears on the Instant Karma benefit album.

Provenance: Its founding members are from Northern Ireland, but Snow Patrol coalesced in Dundee, Scotland

Latest release: A Hundred Million Suns (2008)

© 2008 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.

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