We had just about recovered from the fact that Snow Patrol felt able to release a three disc, 40-fecking-6 track version of their 'Best Of' (surely the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since Lionel Hutz's suit against the film, The Never-Ending Story). Yet now we hear that Gary Lightbody (how I wish he was fat, so I could make the following cheap gag: another case of fraudulent advertising, though not quite as much as if he was called Gary Goodsinger) is recording a solo album. In fact, worse than that, he's recording two solo albums. Worse still, one is a country record. Even worse still, the other is a "crazy" electro record. "Crazy" in inverted commas always suggests something that isn't actually nearly as "crazy" as it would like to be. "Crazy" in inverted commas being used by the lead singer in Snow Patrol to describe his electro foray suggests dad rock, but with each song having a six second bontempi intro.

Lightbody told BBC Radio Scotland that he is recording both albums (under the monikers Tired Pony and Listen..Tanks!) in America, so at least he's out of the country for a bit. He also said that these solo projects do not necessarily mean the end for Snow Patrol as long as they can "keep reinventing it and keep it fresh". If Snow Patrol ever make another record, it's safe to say I'm going to be straight on the phone to Mr Hutz.