Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fright
Glaswegian three-piece Frightened Rabbits are definitely not scared little bunnies when it comes to sharing their creations with a crowd. Comprising of Scott, Billy and Grant, the band has its origins back in 2003, when Scott began playing solo under the bands name. After a few additions they are definitely up for one hell of a time.
The first thing that I came across while listening to this release was the bands fascinations with the human anatomy. From the minute the first track ‘The Modern Leper’ begins, you hear about a cripple with one leg; a subject I feel is not appropriate for a song; especially with the mention of a disease. Following this is ‘Fast Blood’ with the mention of organs, ‘Good Arms vs. Bad Arms’, ‘Heads Roll Off’ and ‘Poke’ beginning with the line “Poke out my iris, why can’t I cry about this” which is fairly violent.
There are small minute or so interludes present within this album. ‘Bright Pink Bookmark’ has a mash of brass and strings and I only imagine what else thrown in this is a short crammed interval and ‘Extasupervery’ has subtle keys gradually becoming so powerful they drown out the vocals.
The majority of tracks are indie with folksy styles such as on ‘I Feel Better’. The musical instruments have been used in such ways that each stands out on its own and for its own reasons. The harmonica on ‘Heads Roll Off’ is an example of where a unique touch is complimented. Another is the tambourine on ‘The Twist’. Unfortunately here the repetitive riff sounds only moderately effective and a little flat. The rest of the album follows suits with the repetition of riffs and consistent rhythms with little originality failing to spark any interaction between the album and I. ‘My Backwards Walk’, which reminds me of the spider walk of the Exorcist, has some smooth yet basic riffs that are also constantly repeated.
The vocals are consistent through the entire collection of tracks. The folksy feel never fails to gain my attention though. What I would like justified is the swearing on this record. Fair enough many bands do it within their intense songs about anger or depression, but here it seems as though vulgar language is used for the sake if it. The most common use is on ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ where it is utterly unnecessary and could have easily been avoided.
There is foul language used in an inappropriate manner, repetitive rhythms that may help you to snooze and yet somehow, the tracks are not half bad.