Snowdrops - Mad World

  by Tommy Gunnarsson

published: 26 / 10 / 2003

Label: Matinee Recordings
Format: 7"

intro

Somewhat unnecessary reworking of Tears for Fears hit by C86 supergroup the Snowdrops, which includes amongst its number US queen of indiepop, Pam Berry

There are a few record labels that I trust almost whole-heartedly. Matinée is one of them. I am pretty sure I could buy any of their releases without listening to it first, and be sure that I would like what I would hear. This autumn, they have released a line of fantastic new records, for example a great Brighter compilation CD, the Young Tradition’s first EP and a further Razorcuts compilation (this time it’s a CDEP), and also this one, by the Snowdrops. For those of you who might wonder who the Snowdrops are, I can inform you that there are three members in this band - Keith Girdler, Pam Berry and Dick Preece. When they don’t play together as the Snowdrops, they can be found in bands such as Beaumont, Lovejoy and the Pines. And of course, Pam Berry is the US queen of indiepop, with more bands in her resume than you can count. On this, their debut 7” single, they have decided to have a stab at the old Tears For Fears classic 'Mad World', a song that was suddenly brought back from obscurity a couple of years ago, when Gary Jules recorded a cover version of it for the fantastic Donnie Darko movie soundtrack. But where Gary Jules turned the somewhat dark synth-pop tune into a melancholic piano ballad, the Snowdrops have more or less left the song untouched. They have kept the basic rhythm track from the Tears For Fears original, and have only added a little bit of instrumentation to it. The main difference is of course Pam’s voice, which is a bit more high-pitched than Roland Orzabal’s. But I can’t help but feel that this cover version was not very necessary, and I must say that I prefer the original recording. The flipside, 'Don’t Buy Anything', however, is a song they have written themselves, and it’s a very good one, too! On this particular tune, Keith has stepped up to the microphone, leaving the back-up duties to the remaining parts of the band, and all this makes it sound quite a lot like those early Blueboy singles released on Sarah a decade or so ago. And that is definitely not a bad thing! To cut a long story short, they could have omitted the 'Mad World' cover, and maybe have included a song of their own instead. I think that would have made this single more interesting. That said, 'Mad World' is a great song, and the Snowdrops do a good rendition of it. But as I said, if I want to hear it, I can put on the Tears For Fears single instead…

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