I saw Frightened Rabbit on Friday night at the First Unitarian Church. They were opening for Spinto Band for whom the night was serving as their official CD release but I tell you, most of the people there had come out to see this threesome from Scotland.
As I am newish to formally reviewing shows I’m not sure if I can capture how spectacular this show was. So I’ll just start from the beginning. The sound was a little wonky to start, it is the basement of a church after all*, but after they got that balanced the boys glistened.
Their post punk influence is much more apparent when you see them live and can really feel the driving bass drum and see the way these fellas rock out together. I can’t tell you how much a true connection and balance of talent/musical understanding contributes to a live show. They played stuff off of their new album The Midnight Organ Fight as well as their freshly released live album Liver! Lung! FR! both of which should be purchased by you all post haste. Highlights were
•The Modern Leper which is probably the best song written with references to Leperosy and when played live have an energy the isn’t on the album (but is still a valid tune)when the rhythm is pumped up a bit more you really feel the drive of this song.
•Old Old Fashioned which is the kind of tune you wish your friends who are in band would have written so if anything you had one reason to go to their shows. The lyrics to this song are grand and made for a good sing along with the crowd.
• They closed with Keep Yourself Warm which is the song that first grabbed my attention months ago. It is a gem of an honest relationship song and really tied things up very nicely. There is something about the singing “It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm” in a room with a bunch a strangers in the mess hall of a church that has a delicious irony.
If they had played Backwards Walk it might have been too good to be true and now I have real motive for seeking them out when they come back through the East as headliners this winter. The crowd wanted more after they left the stage and stood around makin noise for a while but FR didn’t return to the stage. I was standing by the sound board at this point and their manager came back to let the guy know they weren’t coming back out (despite the fact that EVERYONE there was bowled over by them and wanting to see what else they could put out there) because, he said, they (FR) didn’t want to steal Spinto’s glory at their release show a far more endearing end than any encore could have provided. Well played guys.
It would be well worth your money to see Frightened Rabbit when/if they come through your town.
* One of the reasons I so love this city they have some fabulously unique venues. Besides First Unitarian Johnny Brenda’s is an old dance hall and the Trocadero is an old Chinese theater.
I put some thought into what I wanted my first play list to be. Should I go epic with tunes I consider essential? Should I go with a theme? Should I grab bits from shows I have seen in the last few months?
Well the spinner landed on songs that are new to me with lyrics that just get me. So, without further nonesense…
Frightened Rabbit is one of my favorite discoveries of the last few months. I went through an Irish musician phase a few months back (a combined reaction to the movie Once and emusic’s regional search capability)and these fellas came out of the shake. They are just getting rumblings in the US and I am beyond excited to see them at the First Unitarian Church on Friday. Their album A Midnight Organ Fight is spectacular and backwards walk has become my favorite track. Lyrically its very simple but well crafted. “I’m working hard on walking out. Shoes keep sticking to the ground. My clothes won’t let me close the door. The trousers seem to love your floor.”
The lead singer for The National could sing the yellopages and I’d hang on every syllable so the fact that their lyrics are actually really great makes it that much easier to adore them. While I find Star A War to be a solid track its Slow Show that is, in my mind, a complete package. The music builds and carries you through the song and feeling of just wanting to get through a day to hurry home to someone to “crack them up”ie. be silly is one that I completely identify with.
Los Campesinos make me smile. They are pure simple smart fun pop music. I thoroughly enjoy when a song has a catchy tune and intelligent words to propel it along. I sure hope these kids continue to the do these things in flats.
…And We Exhale And Roll Our Eyes In Unison
Bruce Springsteen is a GOD this is something I have only recently fully realized and that is due in large part to discovering Matthew Nathanson’s cover of Thunder Road. Springsteen crafts a story so sweet and true you can see the scenes play out in your head. “What else can we do now Cept roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair well the nights busted open these two lanes will take us anywhere.”This is the kind of song I’m pretty sure my Mom would have listened to on a hot summer in the big yellow house in Kalispell.
Nathanson is an artist who does a lot of covers (Atlantic City,another Springsteen must listen) and does them well. His own stuff ain’t half bad either. It would be worth your time to track some of it down.
This song could be the anthem for my life the last couple of weeks. Breaking it down to celebrating the “irony everything is going wrong but we’re so happy” encapsulates my approach to survival. The fantabulous driving guitars and bass drum keep you bopping your head and singing it on the most challenging of days.
As I culled these from my list of frequently played I realized this may have to be an on going series. But for now enjoy them for what they are and if you like ‘em go buy em.
Whew what a week. I had hoped to get this done earlier but insanity prevailed and I was tucked away in my little world of work and well work. The good news is that I made my deadline but today has been a hazy one speckled with clutzyness and exhaustion.
But I have managed to figure out how to post some songs. Which I actually wasn’t expecting to accomplish so I don’t even have a great playlist lined up. Instead of forcing it I’m going to keep it simple and start at the beginning.
For as long as I can remember my life has had a soundtrack. Dire Straights playing whenever we drove Going To The Sun road in Glacier, singing Let The Rest Of The World Go By with the whole fam piled in bed together at Gundersons on Lake Superior, making up dances to NKTOB with my sisters, the hepcat phase listening to ska and watching Empire Records, phollowing Phish phor a long time, playing the 1812 Overature while trying to keep my fellow bassists from fucking around, doing the electric slide on the deck in Spooner, dancing to PYT at Wilde House, rockin out to Queen and Tribe Called Quest at 3am during the bake off in my pastry chef days, the mix my mom made for me to listen to when I drove to Philly to explore what life had to offer here. This list could go on forever, seriously. Which bring me to why I have decided to try my hand at this music blog thing.
In the past I have made mixes of what I have been listening to both new and old during the year and distributing them to friends and family. Often the music carries a tinge of the events of the year and for those that know me (ie anyone reading this blog at this point) the events of the last few years have been crazy, intense at times fabulously silly at others, and changing all the time. I have learned to embrace inconsistancy and make the most of what life has to offer me and what I have to it. And true to form the music I have been listening to is intense at times and fabulously silly at others. I find myself wanting to share what I am listening to more than just once a year and with anyone who tosses interest my way. So in the spirit of journaling via soundtrack The World In A Paper Cup is born.
Today’s mission was to write the first entry. Tomorrow…. I will try to figure out how to embed an mp3 player.