popwreckoning

Frightened Rabbit released their new 3-song EP for free download. All that’s needed is a simple email address and it’s all yours. To download, go here.

A limited edition 10″ vinyl is set to be released on Atlantic on Oct. 31.

frightenedrabbit.com
facebook.com/frightenedrabbit
atlanticrecords.com

(Photo straight out of camera. I’m quite proud, if I do say so myself.)

Even though my night ended up with me being stranded outside the Showbox because my car got locked in a parking garage, I look at it as a “glass-half-full” night. Because a.) Frightened Rabbit was in town again to start off their fall tour, and b.) the lighting at the Showbox was better than I’ve seen it in at least a couple of months.

Starting out the night was the adorably lo-fi Bad Veins, who definitely deserved to be higher on the bill. Just the two guys on stage made for a different kind of performance, because I’m so used to at least four people on stage. It makes you pay attention to each band member more closely because there are so few of them. Lead singer Benjamin Davis basically stood in one place, but amped it up with an altered mic stand featuring an old-school corded phone that fed into an equally as old school voice recorder which sat in the middle of him and drummer Sebastian Schultz, who made up for the lack of people on stage with his charming effervescence.

I figure the phone-recorder set up was the cheaper alternative to an actual talk box, and it worked really well with the laid-back, hook-laden retro indie pop. “Falling Tide” and the lovely “Gold and Warm” and “The Lie” are alone enough to go buy their debut album, out now. Seriously. Do it.

Plants and Animals were up next, who weren’t bad. They just left me, as well as the rest of the audience, a little bit cold. The songs seemed to drag on in the middle of the set, and we were all pretty anxious to see some of our favorite Scotsmen. And Bad Veins were just so darn good.

“Undone Melody” was a beautiful 6-minute epic, though. That’s partially why their set seemed to drag – because on average, their songs were 2 minutes longer than Bad Veins’ songs. The one thing I did like particularly about Plants and Animals was the instruments they used. Lead guitarist Matthew Woodley played several different guitars throughout their set, but one specifically was so weathered that it matched up perfectly with their on-record sound. Plants and Animals only records to tapes, so it could easily sound like it was recorded now or in 1975, which is a refreshing change-up from the digital world that we currently live in. And the live show almost lived up to the feeling, but just fell short of the analog-only sound.

Walking on stage still with an internal body clock that said it was 7 a.m., Frightened Rabbit pushed through the lack of sleep to put on an amazing show. And not just for Thursday. It would have been equally as amazing if it were on a Friday or Saturday.

Starting off with the first track from their third album A Winter of Mixed Drinks, “Things” had just the right amount of positive vibe to set the mood for the show. After that came “The Modern Leper,” “Nothing Like You,” and “The Twist,” all intermixed with some particularly nice words from Scott for one of our local radio stations KEXP, which was in the midst of a fundraising week.

“KEXP is the most important U.S. radio station for fledgling British bands,” he said, which was then met by a huge round of applause and “woop-woop”s. It was nice to hear some praise for one of the only stations around that doesn’t have commercial motives, and hasn’t fallen into the cliché “Seattle music” trap (i.e. playing at least one Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains song every hour, often the same one several times a day). But all of Scott’s gushing for Seattle was completely sincere, which is one of the things that I enjoy so much about Frightened Rabbit – that they’ll cuss like sailors, play after being awake for an obscene number of hours, but love every minute of it.

“We played this stage about three years ago, when we came through supporting Pinback, and we thought that this room was fucking huge,” Scott said, “And well, it still is, I suppose. But thanks for filling it up!”

The last time Frightened Rabbit played Seattle wasn’t actually all that long ago – in May at Neumo’s, which is a considerably smaller venue, but this time the show wasn’t any less intimate.

During “Foot Shooter,” most of the band – Andy Monaghan, Gordon Skeene, Billy Kennedy – sat idly for Scott to perform a particularly beautiful acoustic version of the song with brother Grant Hutchison on drums.

“When you play a song this many times, you wanna change it up sometimes.” Amidst the complete silence, it actually sent some people into tears.

As a prelude to “Be Less Rude” off their first album Sing the Greys, Scott told a lovely story about when he wrote the song.

“I wrote this when a friend of mine was dating this girl, who was a complete dick. This song was about her.”

How could you get a more simpler plea than “be less rude?”

I failed to mention already that a friend of mine, Susie – who lives in Scotland and has seen Frightened Rabbit close to 30 times – was staying awake through the night to read my tweets from the show because she was “living vicariously through [me].” One of the things that surprised her was the rearrangement of the band’s setlist. I guess for the last two years they’ve been finishing the night with “Keep Yourself Warm” in the encore, but this tour that was no longer the case.

The final song of the normal set list was “Keep Yourself Warm,” the heartbreaking lament off The Midnight Organ Fight which featured a large majority of the crowd singing along to “It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm” before the ascending outro where Andy, Scott, Gordon, Billy, and Grant all played as if it were still the last song of the night. But glancing at the set list, I knew that there were still two songs to go.

Scott started the encore with the stripped-down “Poke,” a beautiful ballad that almost sounded like a lullaby, and like “Foot Shooter,” the audience responded with complete silence. And immediately the rest of the band came on stage after that to play the final song – “The Loneliness and the Scream,” in which Andy gestured for everyone to start clapping along to the driving beat. I didn’t expect for us to be clapping through the entire song, but even though “The Loneliness and the Scream” isn’t a short song, everyone in this awesome crowd threw their hands together the whole time. And nearing the end of the song, our clapping was met with the accompanying “oh whoa ohh whoaaa” to finish out the 19-song set joyously.

I explained it to Susie afterward, who had a hard time comprehending the set list change. Seeing that A Winter of Mixed Drinks was considerably more positive than The Midnight Organ Fight, Frightened Rabbit probably wanted the finale of the live show to be as uplifting as the new album.

They definitely achieved that. Waiting until the end of the show and leaving too late to get my car out of the parking garage before it closed – thus me having to sleep on my friend’s couch and pay an extra $20 the next morning for overnight parking – was totally worth it.

Set List:

1. Things
2. The Modern Leper
3. Nothing Like You
4. The Twist
5. I Feel Better
6. Fast Blood
7. Foot Shooter
8. Old Old Fashioned
9. Swim Until You Can’t See Land
10. The Wrestle
11. Good Arms vs. Bad Arms
12. Head Rolls Off
13. My Backwards Walk
14. Be Less Rude
15. Yes, I Would
16. Living Colour
17. Keep Yourself Warm

Encore

1. Poke
2. The Loneliness and the Scream

Scottish rock band Frightened Rabbit start their U.S. tour today in Seattle at the Showbox at the Market with openers Plants and Animal and Bad Veins.

This will be the band’s second U.S. tour promoting their newest album A Winter of Mixed Drinks, which they’ve taken some time to do gigs over in the U.K. between tours.

Tour dates:

10/7 – The Showbox at the Market – Seattle, WA

10/8 – The Vogue Theater – Vancouver, BC

10/9 – Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR

10/10 – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA

10/11 – Lower Sprawl Plaza – Berkeley, CA

10/13 – Mayan Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

10/14 – House of Blues – San Diego, CA

10/15 – House of Blues – Anaheim, CA

10/16 – Beauty Bar – Las Vegas, NV

10/17 – The Clubhouse – Phoenix, AZ

10/19 – The Loft – Dallas, TX

10/20 – Stubb’s Bar-B-Q – Austin, TX

10/21 – Walter’s On Washington – Houston, TX

10/22 – Tipitina’s Uptown – New Orleans, LA

10/23 – Common Grounds – Gainesville, FL

10/24 – The Social – Orlando, FL

10/26 – 40 Watt Club – Athens, GA

10/28 – Starlight Ballroom – Philadelphia, PA

10/29 – Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA

10/30 – Terminal 5 – New York, NY

11/1 – 9:30 Club – Washington DC

11/2 – Diesel – Pittsburgh, PA

11/3 – Magic Stick – Detroit, MI

11/4 – House of Blues – Chicago, IL

After they’re finished with the North American tour, Frightened Rabbit will head right into a tour of Germany and the UK.

For more information on the tour and where to buy tickets, go to http://www.myspace.com/frightenedrabbit.

Sunday nature battled itself giving us both the coldest and hottest day of Lollapalooza. But there was still music to be heard! So a poncho-packed crowd stumbled through the mud to start their day dancing to “USA Boys,” with HEALTH. As the guys thrashed about the stage with the guitar-driven dance rock, my only thought was that they should have had one of the prime evening spots like similar acts in Cut Copy and Hot Chip. I couldn’t believe they were stuck in one of the earliest sets of the day. Not with how good they are and how popular I thought they were. I’m sure everyone has at least heard one of their remixes at one time or another.

I picked my way past puddles to Perry’s where Team Bayside High was getting ready for their DJ set. I have to give the kids at Perry’s props: the rain seemed to peak during this set, but it didn’t kill their dance buzz for a second. It helped that the DJ duo in Team Bayside High really knew how to interact with the crowd and get them amped up. There wasn’t a single mix that they played that slowed them down too much or killed the mood. As they smoothly went from Franz Ferdinand to a Mario theme, I could see why these guys were asked to play a permanent residence at Rehab in Chicago: they were diverse and fun. For a special treat at the end of their set, Moneypenny‘s Jess joined them to sing her part live on their new single “Party Professionals.” You can actually download the track free at Team Bayside’s site. (We also did an interview with Team Bayside High, so check back to PopWreckoning soon for more from these guys.)

Having seen many of the next acts several times before, I walked past Company of Thieves as their female singer belted out Oscar Wilde refrences, past the Dodos’ percussion heavy set that features a bowed vibraphone and ended up at the Hard Rock Hotel for lunch.

The place was more packed than it had been for the entire weekend. I set off to to investigate what was going on. Turns out one of the larger lobbys had been completely closed off as a “special VIP” had requested privacy while getting a new tattoo. So I went into the cafe to eat and enjoy some hip hop music from Chiddy Bang. Hip hop isn’t usually my thing because I’m a lyric gal and often times the lyrics are offensive, dumb or just downright vulgar. I didn’t have this problem with Chiddy Bang and actually found it witty. I particularly liked that there was a live drummer and not just pre-recorded backing tracks for the performance.

After the performance, I ventured back up to the closed lounge, which was still closed. I was about to ask a girl standing next to me if she knew what was going on, but a beefy, tall man ushered her out of the lobby just as I opened my mouth. Turns out that girl was Hayden Panettiere – you know, from Heroes, Remember the Titans, etc? And it also turns out that she was the “special VIP” who had shut down the room for her new tatt. I guess the cast of Scream 4 had come down to Lolla from filming in Michigan. A part of me wishes I had realized who she was sooner, but I’m also glad I didn’t. That’s kind of the cool thing about Lolla. Actors and musicians are just walking around. You never know who you’re going to rub shoulders with, but at that fest, we’re all equals. We’re all music lovers.

So, since I am such a big music lover, it was time to take my leave of the Hard Rock and head back to the fest for some more bands. Only this time, instead of walking back, I took the Vitamin Water Bus back. This was kind of a cool thing set up where you could relax, rehydrate and enjoy some DJ music going back and forth between the Hard Rock and the fest. I wish I had thought to use it sooner!

I continued my love of watching bands that make you dance by checking out Hockey, who started with “Song Away,” played a few new songs before amping people up with “Work” and “Too Fake.” This set was a lot tighter than their technical-difficulty filled set from the year before. After that I went over to Yeasayer.

If you should know anything about me, it’s that I’m always feeling Yeasayer: multiple vocals, big guitars, lots of synth and even bigger drums. Plus you can dance! What’s not to love? “O.N.E.” got people to stand up and dance through a majority of the set, but it was really “Ambling Alp,” that drove home their awesomeness as a set closer. As I turned to watched MUTEMATH on a neighboring stage, I couldn’t help, but feel a bit bored after the great set that Yeasayer had just delivered.

Fortunately, Frightened Rabbit restored my faith that there was still awesome after Yeasayer. They’re completely different from that dance rock sound and pretty much straight up indie rock. It’s the cool Scottish accents and sweet harmonies that make this band stand out.

But I couldn’t stay there long. I needed to see the shit show that would be Erykah Badu and a shit show it was. Blonde hair and a hideous green dress that no one in the world could pull off. And let’s be honest – her music is uninspired, so we all just were gathered there to see what she would wear and what diva moves she’d pull. This was a clusterfuck, so I made it as long as I could before heading into media to grab some water.

In media, I got a special treat. Festival founder and lead singer in Jane’s Addiction, Perry Farrell, was making the rounds and greeting people. It was so cool to see the icon acting so down-to-earth, especially with how big his Lolla project has become.

I exited media in time to see a bunch of hair bouncing, hear surprisingly killer vocals yowling and watch as hands whizzed through Zepplin-inspired guitar riffs. This was Wolfmother and this was awesome. No, it isn’t something I’ll listen to the CD over and over for, but it is something I’d watch live again.

From here, it was indie rock hour on the other side of the venue. So I trekked over to see MGMT, The National and my most anticipated: Arcade Fire.

MGMT is one of those acts where I really, really, really love the singles, but feel ho hum about the rest of their music and even their live show. I’ve seen them a few times and was disappointed and bored. I wasn’t expecting much at Lolla, but they completely took me by surprise. I don’t know if people complained enough or what, but they were a changed live band. They talked to the audience, interacted, and offered up spots for the crowd to take over singing duties. They even had a frog puppet! It was bizarre and shockingly fun. And yes, songs from the new album did receive a more lukewarm reaction, but I was reeling from the overall change in the band, that I could care less about that. Nice work, MGMT. Maybe you do deserve your fame.

As people flocked to the National on the neighboring stage, I moved closer to a better a spot for Arcade Fire. Sounds of “Blood Buzz Ohio” buzzed in my ear, and as much as I like the National, it wasn’t long before their music became exactly that: just a buzz. Their songs started to sound the same, but it might have been that I was just antsy for Arcade Fire to start.

Oh, Arcade Fire. You, with your bajillion members and insane amounts of instruments from accordion to violins to brass and more. Can I join your band?

Before the fest, one of my friends tried to insult the Arcade Fire by calling them, “The indie world’s Coldplay.” In other words, they meant the band was wildly popular, but without any real merit. You have to understand, this same friend is driven crazy by Coldplay’s unwillingness to use more than three chords. After seeing them live, I can attest, that Arcade Fire is not overhyped. They deserve all the attention they get.

While fireworks went off for other headliners and light shows blinded, Arcade Fire settled on a simple video backdrop and relied only on their music to dazzle. They fittingly started with “Ready to Start” and from there it was just one great song after another. Everything was tightly performed with jubilation. For a moment, I forget my painful blisters and just let their complex instrumentations swallow me. Fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end Lollapalooza 2010. Sorry Soundgarden – Arcade Fire is where it was at this year.

Now who’s ready for 2011?

…

Be sure to check out the rest of the Lollapalooza 2010 coverage on PopWreckoning.com. More posts and interviews!

The more acts I see perform and talk to, the more I am amazed by just how famous the 9:30 Club is internationally. “We’ve heard a lot about this city and this venue…” Marcus Mumford, leader of London-based folk outfit Mumford and Sons, admitted to a Washington D.C. crowd. He and his band had just played the title track of their debut album, Sigh No More, to a very excited audience. Smiling broadly, he continued with, “…and it’s lived up to all of our expectations!” Based on the crazy reaction I witnessed both physically and audibly on the floor, I’d say the feeling was mutual. The quartet stopped Thursday night in D.C., just one of the dates on a sold-out, 5-week tour across North America.

Their mates for this tour are the Middle East, a seven-piece indie band hailing from Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Before this current tour with Mumford and Sons, these Aussies played a well-received set at fellow blog BrooklynVegan’s showcase at South by Southwest in March, then supported Frightened Rabbit when the Scots toured America. Musically, they were a good match for Mumford, with both soft, folk-tinged (“The Darkest Side”) and harder, borderline folky (“Beleriand”) songs. The band closed their set with “Blood,” a song from the band’s self-titled EP last year that got radio stations across the globe buzzing about them. Live, the joyous, harmonious vocalizing was simply beautiful. So really, it’s no surprise that for an opening band, they were able to attract as well as wow a sizeable crowd over an hour before the headliner was due onstage.

I remember the first time I heard Mumford and Sons. Their single “Little Lion Man” was all over BBC Radio last summer, and from one whiff of the confident lyrics and blazing folk instrumentation, I was hooked. A couple weeks ago I read on the 9:30 Club website that the show was sold out. Huh? I thought I was the only one in town who’d heard of them. In this case, I’d like to thank the internet, because I’m pretty sure it was electronic word of mouth that has helped spread word about this quartet of fine musicians.

The sultry darkness of tearful broken heartedness was explored brilliantly in “I Gave You All” and “White Blank Page.” But the band can incite spontaneous hoedowns, as in the case of “The Cave.” What surprised me the most was how chaotically they could play their instruments; this is more what you would expect in a metal band, not a folk one. Just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (or rather judge a band by the songs on their album). Three new songs were previewed – “Nothing is Written,” “Lover of the Light,” and “Whispers in the Dark,” the latter being the only song played in the encore, much to the disgust of fans who, probably just like me, were disappointed that they did not play the gorgeous love song “Winter Winds.”

“Roll Away Your Stone” was the definite highlight of the night. As the audience was whipped into a frenzy as Mumford and company threw all caution to the wind, arms flying as they played their instruments with fury, members of the Middle East reappeared onstage, some of them only in their boxers, dancing around Mumford’s troupe, shaking all sorts of hand percussion. It was definitely one of those “caught up in the moment” experiences, as everyone around me pogo-ed, shrieked in delight, or the combination of the two. Think folk music is boring? Mumford and Sons will make you think twice. Don’t believe me? Check out this tv appearance on “Later Live with Jools Holland” from the first week of May. (Sorry, no one in underwear in this version.)

Mumford and Sons Set List
Sigh No More
Awake My Soul
The Cave
I Gave You All
White Blank Page
Nothing is Written (new song)
Little Lion Man
Lover of the Light (new song)
Thistle and Weeds
Timshel
Roll Away Your Stone
Dust Bowl Dance
/
Whispers in the Dark (new song)

Tour Dates
May 21 – Beachland Ballroom / Cleveland*
May 22 – Wexner Center / Columbus*
May 24 - Lincoln Hall / Chicago*
May 25 – Varsity Theatre / Minneapolis*
May 29 – Sasquatch Music Festival / George, WA*
May 30 – 560 Club / Vancouver*
May 31 – Aladdin Theatre / Portland*
Jun 03 – Great American Music Hall / San Francisco*
Jun 04 – Henry Fonda Theatre / Los Angeles*
Jun 07 – Rhythm Room / Phoenix*
Jun 09 – Antone’s / Austin*
Jun 10 – House of Blues / Dallas*
Jun 12 – Bonnaroo Music Festival / Manchester, TN
Jun 14 – Bluebird / Bloomington, IN
Jun 15 – Off Broadway / St. Louis
Jun 16 – Record Bar / Kansas City, KS
*with the Middle East

Mumford and Sons: website | myspace | MP3 Minute: Mumford and Sons Cover Vampire Weekend | Sigh No More review
The Middle East: website | myspace | The Middle East Announces North American Festival Dates, Spring Tour with Mumford and Sons

There are a few bands that I can clearly say I wouldn’t have discovered had it not been for my small group of Internet friends across the world. Frightened Rabbit is one of those bands. As I found out about the band’s U.S. tour, my friend Susie got so excited for me that I thought she might even find her way here to see them (she lives in Scotland, and has seen them close to 30 times; even from that, you can assess her enthusiasm). So for fear of retribution, I made sure that I’d be able to see Frightened Rabbit when they came to Seattle. It was a busy weekend, yes. A good friend of mine was getting married and it’s nearing the end of spring quarter, but I wasn’t about to let Susie or myself down for not seeing my favorite Scotsmen (well, my favorite Scottish band).

As Frightened Rabbit sold out Neumo’s, I was expecting a large crowd. Thankfully, a large portion of the ticket holders was over 21, so the balcony was crowded, not the floor. The first of the opening bands, Our Brother The Native came out on stage a little after 9, and played a keen half-hour set of experimental indie rock. Lead singer Josh Bertram stood at one synthesizer with a bass around his neck, and next to him on the floor was a wooden board with multiple small soundboards. In fact, Ian Fulcher, who they list on their Myspace page as “Trumpet/Atmospherical Recontextualizing,” stayed on the floor during the entire set, navigating around the – more or less – switchboard of sound. That intermixed with extended hum of the trumpet made for quite an interesting sound. Our Brother The Native had a bit of the Animal Collective appeal, finding innovative ways to mix different instruments right on stage along with Bertram’s spirited howl. It was shoegaze with a bit of pep.

After Our Brother The Native left the stage, roadies came out to move around the drum set and the multiple synthesizers to make room for the second band, Maps & Atlases. I was only expecting one opening band that night, as Maps & Atlases was the only opener listed online, but I still had no prior knowledge of the band. Even though Neumo’s was in desperate need of a cool cross draft, I thoroughly enjoyed Maps & Atlases and their half hour set of songs from their self-titled debut as well as their new album Perch Patchwork. Behind the mop of beard came this insane voice from lead singer Dave Davison. I swear he was using a voice changer. Nope, all his voice. It was crazy. He sounded like a cross between Caleb Followill and George Strait, but with more facial hair. And his voice complimented their math rock sound perfectly, mixing the quirky sharp tone of Davison’s voice with whimsical and complex instrumentation.

By now, I could smell the anticipation – man’s body odor and an incredibly sickly sweet scent of cannabis. However, I had maneuvered myself to a better vantage point to take pictures from, so I was happy. Up until this point, the speakers had been playing indistinguishable late-90s rock, but by the second intermission, the silence was greeted with Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits. Seriously. And people sang along with Stevie Nicks for a good twenty minutes while more roadies readied the stage for Frightened Rabbit.

“Don’t stop, thinkin’ about tomorrow. Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here! It’ll be, better than before. Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone!” What? Who doesn’t love Stevie Nicks? I may only be twenty years old, but my mom blasted Fleetwood Mac on the stereo when I was a kid. There was actually a girl standing next to me who most certainly knew all the words to the familiar sounds being played over the loudspeaker.

But then the nostalgia-fest ended and we finally got to see the band we came to see. Now I can truly see why Susie has been Frightened Rabbit a good 27 or so times. They’re so good live. It’d be hard to find a more passionate lead singer than Scott Hutchison. By the time they started playing “The Twist,” which was only a few or so songs in, Hutchison’s shirt was noticeably wet, and every time he’d jolt around the stage, you could see the sweat droplets fly off his forehead. But that also could have been the lack of ventilation. What can I say? It was hot. The band played songs from throughout their catalogue, including “Square 9” off Sing The Greys, “Old Old Fashioned,” “The Modern Leper” and “Extrasupervery” off The Midnight Organ Fight, and “Skip the Youth,” “Swim Until Your Can’t See Land,” and “The Loneliness and the Scream” off their new album The Winter of Mixed Drinks. But those weren’t all the songs that they played. I was too slow in grabbing the set list off Andy Monaghan’s synthesizer. This tall guy beat me to it.

Possibly my favorite part of the night, apart from the encore, was during “The Loneliness and the Scream,” where Hutchison threw his hands up during the interlude within the song, and everyone in the audience started jumping, clapping joyously and singing along to the “oh-wah-oh-wohs” for a solid minute and a half. That’s part of the reason why I was glad Frightened Rabbit played songs from all their albums. The Winter of Mixed Drinks is so cheerful that I feel like the whole show would have been too up. We needed the heartbreaking songs off The Midnight Organ Fight to make the ups more powerful. But, actually, the most memorable moments came during the encore, when Hutchison walked out on stage after a couple minutes of applause with only his acoustic guitar and played a touching version of “Poke,” that honestly almost brought me to tears. Up until then the tiny room had been filled with noise, but when he stood up their with that one spotlight, the crowd was silent, which made it all that more beautiful. Following “Poke,” we got to dance again with “Living In Colour,” as Hutchison proclaimed, “this one’s for you guys.” It was a nice high to end on, but it actually wasn’t the end. As it was nearing midnight, Hutchison stared up to the unseen Neumo’s employee above our heads in the rafters and held up one finger. “One more,” he said.

And to my delight, they jumped right into “Keep Yourself Warm,” which could be my favorite Frightened Rabbit song, at least my favorite off The Midnight Organ Fight. Hutchison’s shirt was drenched at this point, but I’m pretty sure with all the energy he dispelled during that song he would have drenched the shirt all over again. If I could come up with a different word for epic – oh wait, glorious – glorious is the word I’d use to describe that final song. It’s already a moving song, but when you’re shoved in a hot and smelly itty-bitty club with hundreds of people who love it as much as you do, it’s infinitely more moving. On the surface, the song is so unbelievably depressing, but it didn’t take a genius to see how much the people around me loved that song, and loved Frightened Rabbit. Plus, it’s a lot more fun to sing along to a song that says “fucking” multiple times.

Now I don’t think I’ll ever see Frightened Rabbit as many times as Susie has, mainly because of the entirety of the United States and that big ocean separating the U.S. and the U.K., but if I had the ability to, I’d sure try.



I got my first taste of Frightened Rabbit last year when one of their songs was featured in NBC’s Chuck, and since then I’ve developed a great affection for their music through their first two albums: Sing the Greys and The Midnight Organ Fight. Their newest effort, A Winter of Mixed Drinks, keeps the aspects that were so great about The Midnight Organ Fight and polishes them up, but with an extra bit of optimism. It may be called A ‘Winter’ of Mixed Drinks, but the album surely is a good way to start off the spring.

Starting off with what I can call one of my favorite Frightened Rabbit songs, “Things,” the band has obviously done something right. A song about leaving behind unnecessary “things,” and metaphorically stripping down to your skivvies, its constant piano chord, underlining acoustic guitar and obvious snare drum gives the song a great sense of moving forward. Almost like a train leaving the home station, “Things” sets the positive vibe for the rest of the album.

From there, the album slows down a bit into the first single, “Swim Until You Can’t See Land,” which employs a chorus in the second half of the song, lots of strings, and hand claps, building the song into a incredibly full and strong ending. Along with being the first single, a short reprise of “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” begins “Man/Bag of Sand,” another of the slower songs later on in the album.

Track three, “The Loneliness and the Scream” is one of my favorites off the album, finishing in a minute-long repetition of “oh-wah-oh-o-ohhh,” again accompanied with hand claps. Those claps ran through the album as an underlying ingredient helping to tie it all together – like lemon zest. It brightens up the dish…er…song. A few of the other standouts on the album are “Nothing of You,” “FootShooter,” and “Living In Colour,” which all are great car tunes. Play these ones with your windows wide open on a sunny day, even if you’re stuck in traffic. That way you can feel better while you’re drowning out all the radios playing Justin Bieber.

Unlike The Midnight Organ Fight, A Winter of Mixed Drinks doesn’t dwell on the miserable side of life. In fact, track number nine is literally called “Not Miserable,” which you could call the most somber of all the songs on the album. But even then, it finishes with an uplifting sound, strings and all. Lead singer/songwriter Scott Hutchison said that the album title referred to the “moments of joy” after especially lonely times during one’s life, the moments that “define the dark period.” That’s exactly how the album felt – acknowledging the sad stuff, but emphasizing the happy stuff.

I don’t know what inspired Frightened Rabbit when they wrote this album, but it could very well have been what the title proclaims. A Winter of Mixed Drinks stays consistent in the theme, but doesn’t lack in any variety. Almost like a few mixed drinks. They may taste different, but they all the get lead to the same thing – feeling a little bit happy.

Track Listing:
1. Things
2. Swim Until You Can’t See Land
3. The Loneliness and the Scream
4. The Wrestle
5. Skip the Youth
6. Nothing Like You
7. Man/Bag of Sand
8. FootShooter
9. Not Miserable
10. Living In Colour
11. Yes, I Would

Beginning at SXSW continued after making their Coachella debut, Glasgow artists Frightened Rabbit will embark on a U.S. headlining tour in support of The Winter of Mixed Drinks.

The Winter of Mixed Drinks is the group’s third album due out March 9 on FatCat Records. The group delivers anthemic songs in highly-praised passionate performances. Early feedback of upcoming singles “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” and “Nothing Like You” have glowing. The singles can be heard here.

Tour Dates:
March 17 – SXSW / Austin, Texas
March 18 – SXSW / Austin, Texas
March 19 – SXSW / Austin, Texas
March 20 – SXSW / Austin, Texas
April 17 – Coachella / Indio, Calif.
April 19 – The Clubhouse / Tempe, Ariz.
April 21 – Walters / Houston, Texas
April 22 – Loft @ Palladium Ballroom / Dallas, Texas
April 23 – Revolution / Little Rock, Ark.
April 24 – The Masquerade / Atlanta, Ga.
April 25 – Cat’s Cradle / Carrboro, N.C.
April 27 – Black Cat / Washington, D.C.
April 28 – Webster Hall / New York, N.Y.
April 29 – Paradise / Boston, Mass.
April 30 – First Unitarian Church / Philadelphia, Pa.
May 3 – Petit Campus / Montreal, QC
May 4 – Opera House / Toronto, ONT
May 6 – Southgate House / Newport, Ky.
May 7 – The Old Rock House / St. Louis, Mo.
May 8 – Metro / Chicago, Ill.
May 9 – Pabst Theatre / Milwaukee, Wisc.
May 10 – Varsity Theater / Minneapolis, Minn.
May 12 – Bluebird Theatre / Denver, Colo.
May 13 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City, Utah
May 15 – Biltmore Cabaret / Vancouver, B.C.
May 16 – Neumo’s Crystal Ball Reading Room / Seattle, Wash.
May 17 – Berbati’s Pan / Portland, Ore.
May 19 – The Fillmore / San Francisco, Calif.
May 22 – Casbah / San Diego, Calif.  

The Fat Cat Records label is a Brighton, England institution; they have signed highly divergent, up and coming acts from across the globe, from Sigur Rós to Vetiver, from Frightened Rabbit to Vashti Bunyan. So I took much delight in hearing that the label was sending several of their signings over to North America for a tour. For the Washington date, the three acts being featured at the Black Cat were the Scottish bands We Were Promised Jetpacks and the Twilight Sad, and the English band Brakesbrakesbrakes.

Glaswegians We Were Promised Jetpacks were first up. The band recently put out their debut album, These Four Walls, and they’ve been garnering a lot of attention stateside. I loved their song “Roll Up Your Sleeves” the first time I caught their video online. Singer/guitarist Adam Thompson looks like a Boy Scout, but boy, he sure doesn’t sing like one. They’re rock, they’re punk, they’re everything in between. They’re also very young guys, which probably explains band members joking with each other between songs and Thompson’s telling us about the stench in their tour bus when its generator broke down, leaving them without electricity or running water. In response to this, someone in the audience quipped, “Just like Scotland!” to which Thompson replied with a sideways laugh to bassist Sean Smith, “They think we run around in kilts back home, don’t they?” There was a collective laugh throughout the club and then the band launched into “Quiet Little Voices” with Thompson’s searing vocals: “In any which direction, call me / I will run for you! / I’ll come for you! / I’ll die for you! / I’ll come for you!”

With Thompson and Smith, Michael Palmer (guitar) and Darren Lackie (drums) are an explosive unit live. Sometimes you aren’t sure how the first act of the night is going to be received; I’ve been to some gigs where you could hear people’s conversations clearly in between the songs because there are so few people present and most of them are not really paying attention, just taking up space and waiting for the headliner who comes on later. This was not the case with the Jetpacks’s set at all. Despite the band order, it appeared that many of people present were there specifically for their set and alighted as soon as they were done. A lot of people sang along, and Thompson was so happy with the reception and so many people showing up for their set, he lit up the room with his smile and said by far this was his favorite night in America so far on this tour. Mission accomplished, Washington.

After brief shifting of equipment and gear, the stage was set for the arrival of Brakesbrakesbrakes. In my head I’ll always think of them as Brakes because that’s what they’re known as everywhere in the world except America (courtesy of a Philadelphia band who had already called dibs on the Brakes moniker here in the States), so they will be referred to as Brakes for the rest of this review. Of the three bands, I’m most familiar with Brakes’s back catalogue, and they’ve never played Washington before, so I was excited to say the least. Their third and latest album, Touchdown, was released back in April.

They’re an extremely versatile band, with songs running the gamut from folky, country rock (“On Your Side”) to punk (“Porcupine or Pineapple”) to more straight forward rock ‘n’ roll (“Don’t Take Me to Space [Man]“). Singer/guitarist Eamon Hamilton led Brakes (with Thomas White on guitar, Marc Beatty on bass, and Alex White on drums) on a rousing set of 16 songs across their three albums. “Hey Hey,” a raucous, guitar-heavy tune from Touchdown, was a joy to hear live finally, along with “Don’t Take Me to Space (Man),” my favorite off the new album. One enthusiastic fan exclaimed that being that we were in D.C., the band had to play “Cheney,” a song from the band’s first album Give Blood; it’s a five-second tirade against our former not-so-beloved vice president. Hamilton rewarded the fan by asking him to “count in” the song for them. It went over so well that another fan was chosen to do the same, to even louder audience cheers.

Brakesbrakesbrakes set list:
The Most Fun
Shut Us Down (Camper Van Beethoven cover)
Hey Hey
Ring a Ding Ding
On Your Side
All Night Disco Party
Porcupine or Pineapple
Hold Me in the River
Worry About It Later
Why Tell the Truth (When It’s Easier to Lie)
What’s in It for Me?
Isabel
Don’t Take Me to Space (Man)
Cheney (2x, counted in by two different audience members)
No Return
Jackson (Jerry Leiber/Billy Edd Wheeler cover)

Two hours after we started, it was now time for the Twilight Sad. We Were Promised Jetpacks cite the Twilight Sad as one of their influences, so it’s quite appropriate to have them on the same tour. The band just released their sophomore album-length effort, Forget the Night Ahead, here in the U.S. last month. Singer James Graham decided to begin their set with a decidedly-toned down mood compared to the acts that came before: he clutched his mike as if his life depended on it, and knelt down on the floor as “Reflection of the Television” chugged to life thanks to his fellow bandmates Andy MacFarlane (guitar), Craig Orzel (bass), Mark Devine (drums), and touring keyboardist Martin Docherty. They remind me a bit of the Horrors, with their swirly guitars and keyboards set off by moody, pensive lyrics; “The Room” and “I Became a Prostitute” are good examples of this. I didn’t felt the same kind of energy from them that I did from the previous bands. Maybe it was because it was a Monday night, it was late, and it was Washington, but they just didn’t set me alight.

Stay tuned for an interview with Marc Beatty and Eamon Hamilton of Brakesbrakesbrakes coming soon!

We Were Promised Jetpacks: myspace
Brakesbrakesbrakes: website | myspace
The Twilight Sad: website | myspace

Wait a second…is that…sun?

Yes, the second day of Monolith saw some sun. Though I must stress “some.” Granted “some” was a significant improvement to the cold, icy rain that drizzled on concertgoers the entire day before.

Feeling encouraged by the slight appearance of sun, Monolith’s second day promised to be good.

We Were Promised Jetpacks // Woxy.com Stage @ 1:40-2:20 p.m.

I started off with Scottish group We Were Promised Jetpacks. I couldn’t decide what I liked more. Their music or their stage banter with the audience.

During a brief break in their set, a girl shouted out, “Say four,”

“Whore?” asked Adam Thompson, causing the audience to erupt with laughter. “I’m not some kind of Scottish circus freak. I can’t roll into town and say whatever you want.”

The group just released their debut this past summer and while they cite their influences as Frightened Rabbit and Twilight Sad, I’d say they have mainly the accent in common and while I like those other two bands, I think We Were Promised Jetpacks had the most enjoyable live show after seeing all three at Monolith.

“I’m going to let you in on a secret,” said Thompson near the end of their set. “This might be our only good song. We peaked.”

I wouldn’t let Thompson’s modesty fool you. All their songs are good.

Rahzel // Esurance Music Stage @ 2:30-3 p.m.

I was a bit disappointed with the arrangement of the next options at the festival. I could either see DJ rapper The Pirate Signal or hip hop artist Rahzel. These genres are not really my thing and I was disappointed that there weren’t any alternative genre options when the rest of the line up was pretty good about having variety at different stages.

I decided to sit at the top of Red Rocks and watch some of Rahzel. Rahzel, is perhaps better known either as the “beat boxing champ” or as a member of The Roots.

The first ten minutes were painful. I find having a DJ yell, “We’ve got the champ; we’ve got the champ” over and over while some other guy simply talks kind of lame. That “warm-up” part was something I could have done without.

But then, Rahzel finally showed off his beatboxing skills. First it was White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army” then a little Justin Timberlake and countless other popular tunes. And that was bad ass.

Neon Indian // Woxy.com Stage @ 3-3:40 p.m.

Now Neon Indian was more my speed with its synth heavy lo-fi pop. It is the project of Alan Palomo of VEGA.

Monolith was the first ever live performance of the band, but as Palomo’s bold movements and twists of the microphone cord made it look like they had been performing forever. His female bandmate on keys was a bit more timid though and I’m not sure if that was her personality or nerves.

I expect this group to blow up soon because let’s be honest…who doesn’t love the synth?

Monotonix // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 3-3:30 p.m.

So I didn’t intend to see any of Monotonix and then I accidentally ended up seeing too much.

After emerging from the depths of Red Rocks, I was surprised to see a large crowd huddle in front of the Southern Comfort Stage, yet no one was on stage nor did it look as though anybody had been on stage. Crews were already setting up for the next band. Yet there was some weird sort of rap rock…I’m not quite sure how to describe what was going on soundwise…coming form the middle of the croud.

Suddenly, from the depths of the crowd, a skinny, shirtless man with long hair was lifted on to the shoulders of the crowd. This was Monotonix and the people were just eating his performance up. I finally got to see him, but this is also when I saw too much of him.

It wasn’t long before he was mooning the crowd and I decided it was time to take my leave from the spectacle and check out another band.

The Dandy Warhols // Esurance Music Stage @ 3:30-4:15 p.m.

Maybe it was the singer’s stripped shirt, but there was a definite sailor swagger to the Dandy Warhols.

They seemed happy to be playing, but there was also an aloofness that made it a little difficult to connect with their live show.

The group was at their best when songs called for extra percussion effects like on “The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers.” The band sounded better and seemed happier on songs like that.

Set List:
Burned
Trucker
Junky
Good morning
I Love You
Holden Me Up
The Last High
Bono
Get Off
U2BF
Wasp
P/Boys

The Love Language // Radius Earphones Stage @ 3:40-4:20 p.m.

Looking at the stage set up for The Love Language, my first thought was that two separate bands were going to duel for the ownership of the drummer. Two keyboardists faced each other and two singers stood side by side. It was crowded for such a tiny stage.

But once I heard the band start to play, it was quite clear that something different was happening on stage. Instead of two separate bands battling for control of the drummer, siamese twins would be a better image to conjure up. The band was a single entity, but at the same time, as they switched from song to song, they showed different personalities. The Love Language are Siamese twins, not joined at the hip, but at the drummer.

Aside from walking away from this review with that weird imagery, know that soundwise, they really are the language of love. They are just happy-sounding and sweet and tons of other things that make you want to curl your toes with glee. There was a carefree nature about the music and the performance, so carefree in fact, that the band hardly flinched when all their foot-stomping knocked one of their keyboards off the stand.

Set List:
2 rabbits
providence
nocturne
blood
brittney
blue angel
sparxxx
manteo
lalita
hello mary lou

The Thermals // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 4-4:45 p.m.

I’ve had the privilege of seeing The Thermals before.

I just love the nasally stretch of the singers vocals, “Nooooow weee cannnn see,” the bassists growth from nonchalance to lost-in-the-moment jumping, and the unabridged enthusiasm of the constantly smiling drummer.

Yet, since I had seen them before, I regrettably had to pull myself away to catch some acts I had never seen before. Next time, Thermals. Next time.

Set List:
Return
Afraid
Future
Trivia
Let go
How Know
Call Name
Back Gray
Sick
Trip
100 %
Strosa
Pillar
Culture
We See

Bad Veins // Woxy.com Stage @ 4:20-5 p.m.

Two guys, flowery wood boxes, a big film machine and a telephone. Sounds like the beginnings to a weird sitcom, but really this was just the beginnings of Bad Veins, a duo that features a tape machine named “Irene.”

The guys and “Irene” produced a really full sound, but I’m not entirely convinced I understand the purpose of the telephone bit.

While I’m sure many in the audience inadvertently wandered in, they stayed because they group was unique and good.

HEALTH // Radius Earphones Stage @ 5-5:40 p.m.

HEALTH – OMFG.

I can’t decide if I love the festival organizers for booking some amazing bands or hate them for booking some amazing bands in ridiculously small rooms.

If you were one of the lucky few who didn’t get shut out of HEALTH’s set, you know how amazingly fortunate you were to witness them live. Each band member was all over the stage, jumping and thrashing. I’ve never seen so much energy from a electronica rock band.

If you were unfortunate enough to get shut out, get in your car and drive somewhere to see them even if that means driving to an airport.

This is a band everyone must witness once in their life.

The Twilight Sad // Woxy.com Stage @ 5:40-6:20 p.m.

The Twilight Sad rounded out the Scottish trio performing at the fest.

A schedule change moving Savoy earlier and shifting Passion Pit and Phoenix later due to a cancellation from illness in MSTRKRFT‘s camp made it so I wasn’t conflicted with choosing between Twilight Sad and Passion Pit.

The set was hauntingly beautiful, but a bit of a downer. A technical hiccup in the set lightened the mood a bit as the band awkwardly stated, “Wish we knew some jokes.”

They were talented, but awkward and shy, which I suppose is fitting for their music. Plus, they had accents, and who doesn’t love a good accent.

Set List:
Doonstairs
Faster
Hit Single
Eyes Oot
Mooth
Rabbit
Sheepdng

(not typos, just how they wrote it out on the set list)

Tigercity // Radius Earphones Stage @ 6:20-7 p.m.

Tigercity was some smooth, easy-listening and I unfortunately was just too revved up to go see Passion Pit to truly enjoy this group.

It wasn’t that Tigercity was bad and they had the recipe for everything I love–synth! It was just that it was more so something that was more appealing to an older crowd that still wanted to be hip than what I’m into. Sorry Tigercity.

Set List:
Fake Gold Other Girls
Graz 75 B
Ancient Lover
Power Stripe Solitary Man
Red Lips D Water
A Better Place James
My Type
Let Her Go
?
Mallory

Passion Pit // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 7-7:45 p.m.

OK, again, I don’t know why the festival organizers didn’t put Passion Pit on the main stage because the entire day this was the band that I heard everybody talking about going to.

They were good the last time I saw them, but I can’t get over how much the stage presence has improved. Every band member was all over the stage, jumping off monitors and the kick drum and falling on the floor.

The crowd makes a Passion Pit set. They know all the right times to respond and sing back the vocals.

High-pitched vocals have the potential to be obnoxious, but in Passion Pit’s case, it is pure fun and add the electronica beats and you have a non-stop dance party.

I could have been content to end the night here, but some of my favorite French rockers were getting ready to take to the main stage.

Set List:
make light
i’ve got your number
let your love grow tall
little secrets
to kingdom come
better things
sleepyhead
smile upon me
…can’t remember what was played here…
the reeling.

Phoenix // Esurance Music Stage @ 7:45-9 p.m.

Phoenix has been in the music game for a long time, but it wasn’t until Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix that the States finally took notice of these French rockers.

Yes, the lyrics don’t always make sense (remember English is not their first language), but they sure sound good and are tight musicians.

Think Air with a dash of Daft Punk–this comparison shouldn’t be too hard considering all these artists are part of the Versailles scene.

Phoenix started strong with “Listzomania” and even stronger with “1901,” a song that blew audience away when performed on SNL.

My night ended with Phoenix. Sorry Mars Volta, but I had an eight hour drive that had to be completed before my roomies’ class the next day.

But it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t hope for a more perfect end than Passion Pit and Phoenix.

Set List:
Listzomania
Long Distance Call
Consolation Prizes
Lasso
…sorry, blanking on this part of the set…
Girlfriend
Rome
Too Young
1901

Monolith: website | day 1