You might have read about Frightened
Rabbit a few months back with our review of ‘Sing The Greys’,
the debut release from this unconventional indie-rock three-piece.
Consisting of Scott (vocals, guitars), Billy (guitar, keys) and
Grant (drums, vocals), Frightened Rabbit have conceived this sophomore
effort over a much shorter period although they have spent longer
in preparation for its recording.
Straight from the start, one can tell that
‘Midnight Organ Fight’ is a recording that has upped
the ante, both in terms of ambition and grandeur. ‘The Modern
Leper’, for example, builds progressively up from simply
strummed strings, intermittent kicks and Scott’s dramatic
vocal swoon into something far more cinematic thanks to choral
swells augmented by amplified instrumentation and harmonic backing
vocals. This is some achievement considering the lack of bass
in the ensemble but Peter Katis’ (Mecury Rev, Interpol)
recordings have a certain opulence about them. With the 14 tracks
on ‘Midnight Organ Fight’, Frightened Rabbit have
shed the more unrefined and less polished parts of their debut
to carve out emphatic slices of epic-pop delivered with a youthful
if not slightly downtrodden exuberance.
Throughout,
Scott Rabbit’s voice is in fine fettle, stretching across
melodies with a certain tragic beauty. ‘Keep Yourself Warm’
is particularly gorgeous with Scott exploring the full frequency
range of his vocal register to sing “it takes more than
f@#king someone you don’t know to keep warm” in his
unique Scottish-tinged accent. ‘The Twist’ exists
on a backbone of bunched keys within a progressively developing
soundscape and Scott’s smoldering vocals possess a similar
emotional and fragile beauty of Malcolm Middleton’s solo
works.
This is by far Frightened Rabbit’s
most accomplished and well-rounded offering. The trio employ a
successful formula of initiating tracks with simple arrangements
and then progressively piling on the layers, which when combined
with the classy production techniques, creates songs that bustle
with life. The songwriting, the ability to carve out a catchy
chorus and the fleshing-out of their arrangements point towards
a far more mature band. The fact that the lyrical subject matter
is tinged with the bitterness that comes with life experience
confirms their passage into maturity but this is no bloated stadium
rock as Frightened Rabbit manage to fuse in elements of their
garage-rock beginnings to create an end product that is still
teaming with the raw energy and youthful enthusiasm of their debut.
(RM)
For
fans of: Idlewild, Malcolm Middleton, The Autumns
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