Frightened Rabbit Is At Bottom Of The Hill This Weekend

Well folks, welcome to April. Put differently: we were asleep at the wheel. While we were busy lamenting one Scottish band's absence from our continent, we missed a record from another that is positively fantastic. Lucky for you, we managed to take notice in time for you to catch them live.

Frightened Rabbit released The Midnight Organ Fight in mid-April (get it now?). To be frank, hearing it now, we can't help but feel that we had a chunk of our soul missing for the past six months. The record is loaded with vocal and instrumental urgency that makes you want to jump up and scream and clap your hands and wrap your arms around anyone you can find. We know, it sounds crazy and extreme, but it's real.

The band has managed to construct arrangements that at first listen seem driving, simple, and clean. It's only on further listen that one realizes that the parts are remarkably intricate and ornate. It's the melding of their respective nuances that allows them to come across as a single unified force, despite their complexity.

On top of it all Scott Hutchison's vocals deliver the band's heart on a sleeve. His lyrics are those of a lover who has been dismissed, but recovered. There is sadness is braced with a strong wit, and a realization that the feeling of loss is not necessarily a feeling of desire. In short, Hutchison's voice is remarkably self aware: it is at once loathing of itself, those around him, and no one at all.

We suppose it goes without saying, but in case you're a bit slow on the uptake: we love this record. We picked it up on a whim, and couldn't be happier that we did so. It is a masterpiece of lyric, music, and soul. To some of you we're probably coming across as cheese balls, but if we weren't willing to get this excited about a record, would you really want to trust us about anything? We didn't think so.

So here's the real treat: the band's doing two shows at Bottom Of The Hill this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday night. Unfortunately, the HAD crew has a NYC based obligation, so we're going to have to make do with the band's new live release (released just last week). But you, dear reader, can go and check it out, and love it, and kiss it, and hug it. Because this music is very, very, good.

mp3: Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper (You Send It, Click Through)