Year of the Rabbit

For a relatively unknown band, Year of the Rabbit is having quite a, well, year. The Los Angeles quartet's self-titled debut has been met with the kind of critical salivations that most left-coast acts would kill for. Most of the attention is directed toward Rabbit leader and ex-Failure frontman Ken Andrews, whose recent behind-the-scenes work for Jimmy Eat World, Tenacious D and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have made him the Butch Vig of the L.A. music world. But Andrews' weighty rep isn't the only thing that's brought kudos to the Rabbit; the group's forays into distortion-laden murkiness belie its sunshine-state address, recalling the Jesus and Mary Chain on a particularly bleak Sunday. On the home front, KC scene bunnies are already queuing up to catch a glimpse of drummer Tim Dow, who manned the skins for Season to Risk and Shiner before relocating to L.A. in search of greener musical pastures.