Snowfight In The City Centre - 'Listen' (High Voltage) Released 16/10/06

Beginning with the sort of rolling drums that sound like one of the more approachable Fall records being played at the wrong speed, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the second Snowfight In The City Centre single ‘Listen’ is an attempt at channelling the innovative spirit of their Manchester hometown into the thriving yet creatively stagnant genre that is the British (wannabe) stadium anthem. But a minute in, and already we’re looking for alternatives to such over-used adjectives as ‘heartfelt’ and ‘strident’ (we get cordial and clamorous, which isn’t so bad). Truth is, Snowfight already sound more bruised and sincere than their contemporaries. High praise indeed when being bruised and sincere is what it’s all about; vocalist Adam Jennings is neither overbearing or smug, but convincingly grounded in his delivery, while the track’s ruffled production lends an immediacy to the winding guitars (which tip an obvious hat to Mr. Buckland) that a more expensive coffee-table approach would have unfairly stubbed out.
The lesson from all this? Keep it real!