Music Preview: Scotland Invades Mohawk - Frightened Rabbit + The Twilight Sad

Who doesn't like Scotland? The small and perpetually rainy land of just 5 million has brought us great things that are twee (Belle and Sebastian, Travis), tough (whiskey and Irvine Welsh), and even strange (haggis, kilts, and the Loch Ness monster.) We won't even get started on Belhaven and Sean Connery. The latest indie rock sounds from Scotland seem to be of the emotional, anthemic, and up-tempo variety, as evidenced by the triple bill from Brighton's FatCat Records playing The Mohawk on Thursday evening. These songs deserve to be at Erwin Center, but you can see them - cheaply - on Red River, up close. Here's the bill:

You could be forgiven for thinking that Frightened Rabbit were from Texas instead of Scotland - they've probably played here more often than Spoon or Ghostland over the past two years. The Glasgow trio have built their fan base through relentless touring and connecting with audiences, which has led to them getting slapped rather unfairly with the "emo" tag on occasion. You should expect some heavily Scottish-accented confessional lyrics mixed with loud drums and lots of hooks, which cohere (in a ramshackle fashion) into something pretty great.

The Twilight Sad are simply epic. They write songs about regret, loss, anger, and change. These are guys playing such raw and loud music that Mogwai handpicked them as an opening act for multiple tours. They also played such an intense, full-on set for us a few years back at SXSW that the crowd at Buffalo Billiards actually shut up and quit texting for half an hour. They are currently touring in support of brand new Fat Cat album Forget The Night Ahead, which treads the thematic ground of what your friends do once you become a rock star. So - all hearts and flowers, eh? The last time The Twilight Sad played Mohawk, they were headlining, so consider yourself lucky to get these anthems in the second slot of this bill. This music is worthwhile and full of feeling.

Opening act We Were Promised Jetpacks are also worth turning up early for - they remind us of both of the other acts on this bill, but with hearty doses of Bloc Party's propulsive earnestness and tempo mixed in. It should take roughly three seconds for WWPJ's "It's Thunder And It's Lightning" to get the crowd locked in and ready to jump around and throw their beer cans toward the sky. They may also bust out a glockenspiel, so be prepared for that. The show kicks off at 9pm.

Frightened Rabbit: [official] [MySpace]
The Twilight Sad: [official] [MySpace]
We Were Promised Jetpacks: [official] [MySpace]