French Kicks with Frightened Rabbit and One for the Team
Monday, 06/02/08
The Record Bar
Better Than: DIY taxidermy
Download: MP3, "Heads Roll Off" by Frightened Rabbit, from Midnight Organ Fight (Fat Cat)
By GRANT SNIDER
An electric-bass-less rock band is a curiosity, like a cat that lost a hind leg to a riding lawnmower, yet still moves gracefully. A four-member rock band without a bass guitarist, however, is an oddity, nearly as rare as a snake born with two heads. Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit succeeds mightily with this quirky lineup. They’re more “When Doves Cry” than freaks-of-nature, a noteworthy addition to the long list of bands named after small mammals.
Frightened Rabbit thrives on a triple-Telecaster assault, reinforced by Grant Hutchison’s frantic drumming. Brother Scott Hutchison’s impatient, distinctly Scottish voice added to the immensely pleasant wall of sound. His unmasked accent called to mind fellow Glaswegians The Twilight Sad, or Hillary Swank’s dead Irish lover in P.S. I Love You.
More after the jump.
The high points of this year’s The Midnight Organ Fight – “The Modern Leper” and “Heads Roll Off” – were delivered with sweaty, feral passion. Occasionally, the band added bass to the sweet treble drone, borrowed from openers One for the Team, or in the form of swooning keyboard. The music was loud and urgent, but never at the expense of well-crafted indie-pop melodies and clever lyrics. With lines like “It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm,” expect Frightened Rabbit to publish a book of aphorisms by the end of the year. Or at least make a few Best-of-2008 lists.
Following the hardworking Rabbit family band were the French Kicks, remnants of the early 2000s New-York-garage-art-rock revolution. Oui, they are still kicking, in a mellow, cooler-than-thou way. Lead singer Matt Stinchomb’s was tall, dark, and swaggering, with impeccable hair. They played mainly shimmery, mid-tempo tunes from their new album Swimming. That’s a very appropriate album title. The French Kicks featured underwater vocals and murky guitars, like U2 headlining The Enchantment Under the Sea. It made for a pleasant-yet-lethargic set – I didn’t stick around for an encore.
Critics Notebook
Personal Bias: The last time I saw a non-headlining band so outplay the headliners, an up-and-coming Feist opened for Kings of Convenience a few years ago in Lawrence. I hope Frightened Rabbit gains her level of rock stardom.
Random Detail: On the way to the concert, I was in the middle of a fierce debate on the use of reverb in recording snare drum sound– the hallmark of ‘80s music, and allegedly used on a song the Frightened Rabbit album. The consensus: reverb on a snare ruins a good sound, like a bad spot painted on a piece of fake fruit.
By the way: It’s hard to look cool while singing without a guitar to grip onto. The French Kicks’ lead singer did his New-York-best, but didn’t quite succeed. One for the Team played first, but I missed them due to their unusually early start time.
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"I always side with the band that plays the hell out of their instruments and leaves drenched in sweat, rather than the band that looks bored."
Right on.
For the love of all things holy, do a little research. The lead singer of the French Kicks is Nick Stumpf. Matt Stinchcomb left the band almost three years ago.
I like that description of the Rabbit sound - too bad I couldn't say it that concisely. The Kicks might vary their songs more, but Frightened Rabbit does the jangly grey sound well. Comparing their live shows, I always side with the band that plays the hell out of their instruments and leaves drenched in sweat, rather than the band that looks bored. And after re-reading the review, I need to work on my proofreading.
Nice review, Grant. I'm thinking, however, that French Kicks, however woozy, write more musically interesting songs than Frightened Rabbit, who do sound a lot like the Twilight Sad -- that same kind of skittery Joy Division drumming, ringing guitar, folk-balladeer vocals. I like it, don't get me wrong, and I bought a CD, but, well, I wish I could go back in time and watch this show again. I might side with the Rabbit.
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