Frightened Rabbit/the Twilight Sad/We Were Promised Jetpacks @ The Social, Orlando, FL, 09/29/09

It's awfully tricky to get to live shows when one lives in a veritable cultural wasteland, but we make the effort from time to time, and this was one of those times. The Resident Photographer and I trekked up to Orlando recently for a two-night stand with some of our latest favorite and enduring favorite and entirely new favorite bands. Night one was Frightened Rabbit, fronted by Scott Hutchison, pictured below:

Like many, I fell madly in love with Frightened Rabbit's sophomore album, The Midnight Organ Fight, last year (I'm pretty sure Andy Whitman at Paste Magazine can be blamed for that, click through and read #5 on his personal list of top albums of 2008), and, recognizing that this may be the peak of the band's career, especially after picking up their somewhat less than stunning initial offering Sings the Greys, I felt it was imperative to get up there and see them NOW, and boy did it pay off. The live renditions of songs that I have grown to love were filled with even more passion and fire than the studio tracks. (This should always be true, but it is not always true.)


The Social proved to be an excellent venue, with nary a bad seat in the house. Even when occupying prized real estate at the bar, I was only ten rows away from the stage. I counted.

Opening for Frightened Rabbit were label-mates the Twilight Sad. I had read some recent buzz about them, and was excited to see them, but ultimately, they were not really my bag. I remember seeing Mogwai in the late '90's and being somewhat underwhelmed - I recognize that it's not them, it's me - and the Twilight Sad certainly falls into that post-Shoegaze, Mogwai-born category.

Opening for the Twilight Sad were label-mates We Were Promised Jetpacks. I found them to be a little rough around the edges, but The Resident Photographer has not stopped playing their album since we got home.

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Keeping Warm

Apparently it was the last night of the joint tour, and you could tell that the majority of the band members were sad about it. There was a lot of love in the room, some of it from the bands' family members, and we were told several times that the boys were all heading to Islands of Adventure the next day, heck, we even saw a few of them there while waiting for the Laura Veirs/Decemberists show to begin ... but that's a subject for another post ...

ETA: evidence that i might be wrong about that flash-in-the-pan assessment

You're probably sick of all these Siren Fest posts by now...

Siren Fest, for those of you non-New Yorkers is the one day a year when nearly a dozen of your favorite indie bands descend upon Coney Island for a free festival of music, gross "vbrancyy beverages" and buckets of sweat. The real draw for me this year was Frightened Rabbit, whose album latest album The Midnight Organ Fight made my top 10 of 2008. The adorable Scottish lads commanded the stage with a vigor and urgency that defied the heat. There energy was made all the more impressive considering they were wearing what looked to be pretty heavy plaid button downs. Major props for suffering for fashion! Tons of videos of their performance here. Like the girl in front of me sad, "You can't fake those accents!".




I also managed to catch the last few songs by Future of the Left (aka the dudes from the now defunct McClusky), whom the boyfriend and many others claim were the highlight of Siren Fest. From what I heard it was some pretty banging Welsh punk.


Also how endearing were Japandroids. The duo claimed they've never seen this many people in their lives. Awww, Canadians.

Oh and hey Grand Duchy, Black Francis and his wife played a neat little set as well.

I didn't stick around for The Raveonettes or Built to Spill, as I was party-pooped out. (Besides, I'm the girl that always kills the party anyway).

Oh and p.s. - the sound quality sounded slightly better this year, or at least louder anyways. Though the bands still had to compete with the ROAR of the cyclone, at least Japandroids beat it.

The Modern Leper - Frightened Rabbit

Yet ANOTHER awesome cover

We're on an awesome live cover roll. Earlier this week The Hold Steady covered the Mountain Goats and now I just discovered this gem of a cover. While it's not brand new (it was recorded in Febraury) it's still an absolute thrill to hear Frightened Rabbit cover Neutral Milk Hotel's "Song Against Sex". Their lovely acoustic rendition lends the song a unique Scottish flair, yet still maintains the original's earnestness. Enjoy!

Best albums for first half of 2008

In no particular order, a brief rundown at what's pulled at our heartstrings so far this year. Please click on the artist's name to buy these albums. We repeat: Buy! Buy! Buy!

the Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride: Superchunk's Jon Wurster is a welcome addition to the band.
San Bernadino.mp3


Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight: Driving, earnest songs that belie the band's meek moniker.
Keep Yourself Warm.mp3


Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago: These delicate little songs have gently led me through many dark places this year.
Skinny Love.mp3


Islands - Arm's Way: Epic from start to finish. The strings are incredible!
Creeper.mp3


The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely: An extremely cohesive album. A sweltering album that, in my opinion, surpasses the bands debut.
Salute Your Solution.mp3


Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs: A shift in sound for the band. I've heard a lot of bad things about this album, but I'm really enjoying it.
I Will Posses Your Heart.m4a


Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours: Dance, Dance, Dance like you're at an 80's prom, except with way hipper music!
Unforgettable Season.mp3


Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea: David Berman's wit and rasp at its best.
Candy Jail.m4a


She & Him - Volume 1: The pinnacle of adorableness, plus M. Ward's immaculate, sepia-tinged production.
Black Hole.m4a


Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster...: Britain's cheekiest youngsters rock...with glockenspiel of course.
This Is How You Spell, "HAHAHA, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics".m4a


Vampire Weekend: Unironic pure joy, with a summertime-lounge-y feel.
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.mp3


Flight of the Conchords: Silliness without sappiness, spanning different genres.
Mutha'uckas.m4a


Sigur Rós - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust: Faux-languaged Icelandic group pulls together a sharp, fun, poppy record.
Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur.mp3

i am armed with the past, and the will, and a brick

So, I've found my favourite album of the year. Sure, there year is only just half done. But unless Rufus Wainwright and John Darnielle colaberate on an album feauring Sufjan Stevens, I have found my album of the year. Wanna know what it is?

Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

This album has everything I love in an album. A lead singer with a unique voice. (Kind of like a scottish Connor Oberst with actual vocal skills). Literate lyrics. Emoness but not too much emoness. Clever guitar work. Driving beats. Oh man oh man oh man.

The songs, every damn one, are amazing. They soar and dip and soar even higher. It's mostly just guitar and drums, but these songs are more complex and rich than anything other bassless bands could hope for. And the lyrics pales in comparison to the music. And then the music pales next to the lyrics. And then his voice does something extra Scottish-y and it all pales next to that.

I am just crazy in love with this album. I want everyone to hear it and share the joy. I want to dial random numbers in the phone book and shout 'omg! listen!' and hold the receiver up to the speakers. And I bet they wouldn't hang up, they'd stay on the line for the full 48.2 minutes it took the album to play through.

The Modern Leper
And you are not ill
And I'm not dead.
Doesn't that make us the perfect pair?

Keep Yourself Warm
It takes more than fucking someone
you don't know to keep warm.

BUY