Austinist Show Preview: French Kicks, Frightened Rabbit, Zykos at the Mohawk

It's really saying something if, as a band, you can undergo as much blistering criticism as have the French Kicks, and lived to tell the tale. But that something that's being said is a little bit more difficult to pin down. Is this band, lambasted regularly for coming from New York—even though, in the eyes of their harshest critics, their New York-ness is the very reason they're of any importance—deserving of all the shit-talk, or is there something fundamental to their approach that makes them worthy of their dedicated and often rabid fan-base? You'll have the opportunity to decide for yourself tonight at the Mohawk.

But that decision-making process isn't all that's going on at the Mohawk, as the opening acts are at least as intriguing as the headliner, if not more so. Frightened Rabbit, a promising quartet hailing from Selkirk, Scotland, bring a jangly and galloping sound that brings to mind American indie-folk band The Fruit Bats, or (for better or worse) Irish stadium-rockers and world-healers U2. Surely, though, they are catchy and enjoyable, and not afraid to throw in a few musical surprises mid-song.

Far more familiar than either of those bands, and starting the night off right, is the always-steady and satisfying Zykos. The joyous five-piece, whose energetic sound and sloppy vocals make them one of Austin's most well-liked groups, someday in the future may be widely considered the highlight of this lineup.