Results tagged “frightenedrabbit”

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:

Oxford Collapse conjures up vivacious, noisy pop songs and The Mohawk hosts the New York act’s fuzzy textures and inviting melodies this Thursday. The band utilizes layers of vocals (courtesy of Michael Pace and Adam Rizer) to produce catchy verses and sing-along choruses, and engages the listener throughout with jittery post-rock backdrops. “Amongst Friends” is a poignant anthem that a current crop of youth could play on graduation night while “Please Visit Your National Parks” kicks off like an R.E.M. ditty before exploding with Pace’s assertive yowl and sustaining six-strings. In fact, there is an '80s college-rock feel to a number of their songs but whatever their inspirations may be, this trio’s quirk-pop compositions do more than enough to keep things interesting, and they are sure to put on a raucous live show. Oxford Collapse’s upcoming fourth record Bits is scheduled for an August release on Sub Pop. The band just got back from a U.K. tour with We Are Scientists and will tour again with their fellow New Yorkers following the current stint with Frightened Rabbit.

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.

Glasgow's Frightened Rabbit are a a three-piece outfitted by siblings Scott and Grant Hutchinson (guitar/vocals and drums, respectively), and like a handful of rock outfits past, lack a bassist. Their 2006 release, Sings the Greys, was well-received critically, but lacked the distribution to properly permeate initially. Luckily, Fat Cat stepped in and helped the band re-record and re-master Greys, setting them on their way to record Midnight Organ.