You don't know what it might do for you

My attention was drawn to Frightened Rabbit thanks to the video for their latest single, 'Head Rolls Off'.

And my attention was drawn to that because a guy I was at university with directed it.

It’s a video that, despite the potential to be horribly twee and cutesy, manages to stay on the right side of charming. Offsetting the intensity of the music and the dour appearance of the band with the naivety and charisma of a class of dancing, smiling primary school kids, you can't help but be swept along by sweet nature of the whole thing. And it helps that the music’s pretty damn good too.

Frightened Rabbit are a four piece from Glasgow, signed to Fat Cat Records. My initial reaction to that, was to expect some possibly down beat, left field experimental electronica. But this is far from that. This is indie music. Proper indie music. You can imagine it being released in the early 90's, garnering cult appeal and being pretty much ignored by the masses. It's the indie version of epic torch music. But it's a restrained epicness. It's got that early 90's alternative American rock sound to it. Searing walls of guitar. Big sing along songs. The obvious comparison would be a band like Snow Patrol but with better, less straightforward songs and greater intensity in their execution. And a wholly more enjoyable listening experience. I hope the Snow Patrol comparison doesn't put you off. I guess it's almost a lazy comparison. It feels a little insulting to say it. But it's there in the Scottish tinge to the vocals. In the big sound. Only the music doesn't feel so obvious. The lyrics aren't as trite. Maybe a better comparison would be a band like Saves The Day. Maybe not.

And as I sit here, listening to their second album, 'The Midnight Organ Fight', I can’t help but feel the music wash over me. It feels like it's holding me. Surrounding me. The sound is all encompassing. It seems to wrap itself around your emotions. Feels like it puts you on the edge of some kind of emotional experience. And as odd as it may sound, I love the sound of the drums throughout. Really understated beats whose power lies in their softness and simplicity. There's no unnecessary fills or showing off. They sound like they've been recorded slightly off mic and feel much richer for it. 'Old Old Fashioned' has a stomping Celtic feel to it yet the brushed drums stop it from veering off into territory too traditional or full of pomp. Many of the tracks like 'I Feel Better' and 'Keep Yourself Warm' build in power, from sparse ideas into full, rousing anthems. 'Poke' on the other hand is a beautiful picked acoustic track. In the right (or wrong) mood, this record could easily move you to tears. I have a feeling we'll see this record ending up on my Essential Records Of 2008 list. It's released on April 14th and you really should buy it.

Watch the video to 'Head Rolls Off' here and listen to more Frightened Rabbit here.

Frightened Rabbit - be less rude (demo version)

Frightened Rabbit - the greys (demo version)

Frightened Rabbit - an incident (demo version)

mp3 / music / frightened rabbit