Album Review: The Place We Ran From by Tired Pony

It's an achievement of sorts that, after pulling in an "Americana" supergroup featuring the likes of REM's Peter Buck and Belle & Sebastian's Richard Colburn, Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody has managed to end up with a band that sound, well, pretty much like Snow Patrol. The slightly more country-rock instrumentation aside, this is still Lightbody in default mode: turning dark or maudlin subjects into epic, yearning anthems that raise hands or mobile phones into the air. Still, his best songs have a disarming, even humbling quality, and the beautifully widescreen likes of Northwestern Skies and Get on the Road find yet more mileage in Lightbody's favourite but ironic theme of escape.

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The liner notes to Tired Pony’s first album read like a “who’s who” of indie rock royalty, listing credits from the band’s core lineup -- including Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, producer/musician Jacknife Lee, and Belle & Sebastian's Richard Colburn -- and the hip guest list, which features cameos by the likes of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. Yet despite the full roster, The Place We Ran From sounds more like a Lightbody solo album than a collaborative project.

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Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody gets some Americana out his system. Andrew Perry 2010 The side projects of internationally famous rock stars are very often worth a listen just for their sheer folly, but the name of this one promises nothing so entertaining – and rightly so. Tired Pony are Gary Lightbody’s brainchild, something he dreamt of doing while on the long haul around the States with his main band.

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