Frightened Rabbit, by Julia Stryj

By Julia Stryj

February 10, 2012

First up on stage for tonight’s HMV’s Next Big Thing are Fatherson. The Glaswegian three-piece (or should I say quartet, as a female cellist joins the three guys for one song) have some good turnout considering they are on pretty early. And while a lot of the audience seems to be family, friends and fans, they manage to win over the rest with their Scottish folk indie tunes and their cheery attitude. The Picture House is filling up more and by the time We Are Augustines are on, there isn’t that much space any more to move about. After talking to the three guys from Brooklyn it is strange to stand in front of them with a camera hiding my face.

Watching most of the rest of their set from the side of the stage the ”in-house- photographer” says to me: “Not a lot of people can make Springsteen look subtle”; I beam at this because I have read a lot of comparisons between Billy and Bruce Springsteen. The reason why I don’t (want to) see or hear better it is probably because I am not a big fan. However, Billy, Eric and Rob’s alternative rock music with some heavy ‘80s influence has grown on me over the week leading up to the gig and seeing and hearing the songs live has sealed my admiration for the album and the band. Especially Billy introducing ‘Book Of James’ (a compelling song about his schizophrenic brother who committed suicide) with the words “this is a dancing song” and that he wants to see the audience dance makes my heart weep and smile at the same time. I sincerely hope that We Are Augustines will come back to Scotland for a headline tour soon so I can experience their energy-laden performance for 90 minutes rather than a meager 30.

By now, my desire for a drink is replaced by the realization that I won’t be able to make it to the bar and back to the photo pit in time for Frightened Rabbit. Starting their strobe lighted set with ‘Fast Blood’ they have the whole audience in a trance and by their third song ‘Old Old Fashioned’ it seems that there isn’t a person in the building who is not singing along at least to the chorus. That includes We Are Augustines who are watching the FR set from the side of the stage and greet me in a friendly manner when I come out of the photo pit.

I have seen Frightened Rabbit plenty of times and their performances have always been a lively rock show. Their clever lyrics and melodic folk/rock-pop melodies performed with pure passion always get my spirits up. But seeing them in this packed Edinburgh venue in front of an audience that enjoys every song to the full, is what makes a gig, a great gig. After 13 songs, the 5 guys leave the stage under massive cheers only for Scott to re-appear a few minutes later to play an acoustic version of ‘Poke’ – this time with the audience as his background singers. The other band members join him for ‘Good Arms vs Bad Arms’ and the final song ‘Loneliness and the Scream’. Before the crowd sees them off with a never-wanting-to-end singing of “whoa oh oh oh ohhhhhhhhh”. Watch and listen yourself.

All photos by Julia Stryj.

Here’s your first batch for the week – numbers 40-31 of the albums of 2010, as chosen by our writers. Enjoy! Check back tomorrow for 30-21.

Baths - Cerulean

40 Baths Cerulean

“Will Wiesenfeld’s Baths project emerged from the fertile scene in LA halfway through 2010 with little fanfare and quickly charmed anyone who heard it. Cerulean, for a debut, is surprisingly fully formed, but then Wiesenfeld is a classically trained musician who’s been playing in bands for years. He moulds pop songs, beats, ambient passages and field recordings into a quite personal record that still sounds free and organic, like the watery motifs that flow through it. He shifts between post-Dilla hip-hop on ‘Maximalist’ to the touchingly-honest almost-ballad of ‘Plea’, all the while maintaining a wide-eyed optimism that never seems forced and is instead infectious – few records in 2010 sounded as much like the extension of someone’s personality.” Greg Salter

39 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Before Today

“I’ll admit I was suspicious of Ariel Pink before this album. Just like when Cut Copy sing ‘lights and music on my mind/be my baby, one more time’, I always had the sneaking suspicion that he was somehow satirising the type of music he was creating, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I personally had trouble getting my head around it. It’s hard to maintain these suspicions when an album as good as Before Today comes out though. Particularly in the first half, Ariel Rosenberg channels the ghosts of music past, but manages to make songs that would stand up amongst whichever particular era or band he is choosing to emulate. ‘Round and Round’ is the example that will always get put forward to demonstrate this, but songs like ‘Fright Night’ also manage a very specific, slightly strange and off-kilter atmosphere at the same time as being simply good songs.” Joe Bates

Actress - Splazsh

38 Actress Splazsh

“Splazsh is an unsteady, heady combination of propulsive beats that seem to always change, to be constantly on the move. In a year when the original humans-as-robots returned with an underwhelming soundtrack, Darren Cunningham, a.k.a. Actress, was quietly combining brutal, formalist IDM beats with more melodic hints of UKG, dubstep and hip-hop. Human voices rise to the surface or lie fractured in amongst the constructed carnage. Splazsh is sonically thrilling and immersive – difficult to escape from.” Greg Salter

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

37 Deerhunter Halcyon Digest

“It’s easy to take Bradford Cox’s Deerhunter for granted – since 2007’s breakthrough Cryptograms they’ve given us a double album, a couple of top quality EPs and now the understated Halcyon Digest. If it doesn’t have the immediate thrill of their last two LPs, it might just be that Cox knows he has our attention now – he has begun to feed ambient atmospherics back over and under his melodic hooks and has started experimenting with different lyrical masks. ‘Desire Lines’ and ‘Helicopter’ shimmer with a new strange beauty and you sense that this is the start of whole new chapter”. Greg Salter

Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

36 Frightened Rabbit The Winter of Mixed Drinks

“Frightened Rabbit’s most recent record is much less immediate than Sing The Greys or Midnight Organ Fight but much more loved than either of those records, and far more grandiose. Brave and rewarding.” Christopher Panks

Sean Clothier noted the change in mood on this album in his review earlier this year: “Leonard Cohen said on his recent tour that despite “studying deeply in the philosophies and religions…cheerfulness kept breaking through”. Well cheerfulness has not only broken through here, it has completely eviscerated the melancholy that the band previously wielded like a hammer to the chest”.

Vampire Weekend - Contra

35 Vampire Weekend Contra

“Vampire Weekend have the tendency to irk people, with their Ivy League credentials combined with their world-music aping approach understandably not being everyone’s cup of tea. It’s a shame, because on their sophomore LP, they came into their own, combining the songwriting chops they showcased on their first album with an increased tendency towards experimentation. Incredibly consistent, Contra shines from start-to-finish and is an incredibly mature record from a band who look like they’d still have trouble buying alcohol without ID, particularly in America.” Joe Bates

Summer Camp - Young EP

34 Summer Camp Young EP

“Summer Camp’s songs all sound as if they’re straight from a John Hughes storyline, and I bloody love John Hughes. ‘Ghost Train’ is one of the sweetest songs ever, nearly everyone’s been to a party straight out of ‘Veronica Sawyer’, and ‘Jake Ryan’ is made for the dreamy moments lying on your bed annoyed about love and that. Summer Camp were one of the bands that started the dreaded chillwave thing, but there songs run much deeper than a faddy genre, and Young is full of songs that deserve to become classics, just like the films that inspired them.” Holly Arrowsmith

Field Music (Measure)

33 Field Music Field Music (Measure)

Natalie Shaw probably put it best in her review of Field Music’s third record way back in January: “Fascinated with what it takes to be an illogical human, the 20 tracks showcase people setting themselves limits and taking chances from their measure, their default. As unstructured as it feels, after repeated listens it’s hard to imagine sequenced any other way. That combined with the frenetic end-section are examples of how expertly Field Music (Measure) is crafted, and just how much thought and obsession has gone into it.”

32 Allo Darlin’ Allo Darlin’

“A heartwarming indie pop album that begs to be listened to on repeat. Ukuleles, twee guitar melodies and touching lyrics only add to their wistful charm. Allo Darlin’ invoke the spirit of Hefner and hopefully they’ll go on to achieve the sort of fan base that The Wave Pictures enjoy.” Andrew Seaton

“This album is basically just lovely. It’s ever-so-slightly twee, but in a way that makes you sigh happily rather than stick Motorhead on really loud to offset the saccharine. Singer Elizabeth’s voice is full of whist, and with its backing track of ukeleles, plonky pianos and guitar riffs that make you shake your hips, it’s brilliantly fun to bounce along to. ‘Dreaming’ is one of my songs of the summer, and will bring back fond memories of too much cider and broken sunglasses for a while.” Holly Arrowsmith

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

31 Flying Lotus Cosmogramma

“The scope of Flying Lotus’ post-Dilla hip-hop meets future jazz masterpiece is such that the best part of a year on, most of us are still trying to get our heads around it. Flying Lotus, meanwhile, is already onto the next step of human evolution.” Jim Merrett

“…jazz is now the primary driver of Flying Lotus’ music – more so even than the electronic hip-hop of his past, which remains unavoidably tied to a certain degree of sequenced rigidity. By introducing live instrumentation and doing impossibly skilled things with a computer, Ellison has managed to craft an album that matches his seventies jazz forebears in its ambition and quest for free exploration. Cosmogramma may lack the immediacy of its predecessor, but with it Flying Lotus has managed to tap into a headspace several levels deeper.” Rory Gibb (from his original review)

Frightened Rabbit

November 22, 2010

As the scene of my ‘education’, Northumbria University will always hold a special place in my heart, primarily because of the many sweaty, boozy hours I spent in its Student Union watching bands good, bad, and fucking terrible. However, as I have gradually degenerated from a hip ‘n’ happenin’ snake-hipped teen to a doughy late twenties office drone, so too did Northumbria fall from its pedestal as a regular fixture in Newcastle’s gig scene. Today, after a major refit which has included reducing the capacity of the upstairs room (and in the process massively improving its atmosphere), it appears that the place is slowly trying to claw its way back into favour, having recently nabbed a couple of gigs which would usually be shoe-ins for one of the Academy venues. If you’ve ever been to the Academy, you’ll agree this is undoubtedly no bad thing.

Frightened Rabbit’s visit to Northumbria comes at the end of a year of great success, where their third record The Winter of Mixed Drinks has very nicely consolidated the massive critical acclaim which was so freely lobbed at its predecessor The Midnight Organ Fight. Singer Scott Hutchinson, speaking to us after the show, definitely feels happy with how 2010 has turned out: “I think it’s been great. We’ve always said that as long as we’re moving forward then we’re happy. I never pay too much attention to people saying that it’s going to be your year or whatever, because, well they can say what they like, but I’ve had a fucking fabulous year, I’ve really enjoyed it. The reception to the record has been good, and the more time that people have had with it, the better the reception to the songs has been.”

In keeping with all the good cheer surrounding the band (although Scott will hear nothing of the festive season until we’re into December), they are in wonderfully relaxed and amiable form tonight. The set is a pretty thorough trawl through the last two records, with ‘Be Less Rude’ the only song from Sing the Greys to make an appearance, something which just illustrates the massive bounds Frightened Rabbit have made as a band since their earliest days. There’s little doubt that The Winter of Mixed Drinks has taken a while to fully worm its way into people’s consciousnesses but now that we’ve had nine months or so to live with the newer songs, they are sitting very comfortably alongside their older counterparts. Indeed, ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’, and set closer ‘The Loneliness and the Scream’ are two of the evening’s high points, providing just as much singalong potential as the likes of ‘I Feel Better’ and ‘The Modern Leper’.

As time has gone on, Frightened Rabbit’s recordings have unquestionably grown ever more polished. Clearly, this isn’t always a positive step, and it’s been the death of plenty of bands before them, but in this case, it has felt like a logical, organic growth, taking place as they have gradually accumulated members and grown in both confidence and stature.  Scott can’t help but feel that he may have got just a little bit carried away with the extra instrumentation employed on the new record though: “It was huge, and I went a bit over the top, I’ll be the first to admit, and it was symptomatic of me feeling that The Midnight Organ Fight wasn’t quite right. I didn’t get to finish it, if you like, and doing The Winter of Mixed Drinks was almost like venting my frustration and getting everything on there, and then going fucking way over the top. I think now is the time to pull it back.”

Indeed, as it turns out, the fleeting instances  where the band do strip things right down tonight are probably the greatest moments of a set not lacking in focal points. Scott delivers ‘Poke’ and ‘Good Arms vs Bad Arms’ solo, and it’s raw, gut-punching stuff. These songs serve to prove that no matter what strengths Frightened Rabbit develop as a band, ultimately, the thing they will always do best is to articulate the bleakest depths of lovelorn sorrow, and drag you down there with them.

This propensity with miserablism makes the band unlikely fodder for marketing types, yet still they have recently found their music thrust into millions of households thanks to a certain National Lottery advert. In spite of the odd bit of indier-than-thou vitriol, Scott sees no reason for self-reproach: “Until very recently, we were label-less, so we were paying for everything. I’m completely unapologetic about all that stuff because I do this so that I don’t have to do anything else and stuff like that goes back to the culture of downloading meaning you don’t make money from selling records. I have to make money somehow, and that’s one of the ways of doing it. A couple of people have been a bit… And I came to understand it, and now, I think I probably would be more wary of doing that in the future. I understand now that that album, and that song, will mean a lot to some people and to hear it in that setting might cheapen it a little bit, but, well, I don’t really care, because it’s going to be on for about two months, and it’ll be forgotten about by Christmas time. I won’t listen to too much stick, because you try working your arse off for four years for very little return financially, and then see if you’re going to give me shit for it! I don’t care. I haven’t actually even seen it. We’ve actually turned a lot of adverts down in the past, and there are a lot of companies I wouldn’t advertise. My thinking is that if somebody hears it and likes it, then it’s one more way of hearing the music.”

After a busy year, the band have one final blowout planned at the Bowlie 2 weekender which is being curated by Belle and Sebastian, and they intend to make the most of it: “It’s insane. I first looked at the line-up about two months ago and they added some more bands about a month ago, and it’s fucking even better. I think it’s probably one of the best festival line-ups I’ve seen this year. It’s our last show of the year, and it’s going to be our office party. It’ll feel extremely Christmassy.”

After Bowlie 2, don’t expect too much from Frightened Rabbit for a while, as Scott plans to go to ground to make album 4: “We’re going to really spend a long time doing it, I’ve got almost nothing written, so I’m going to have to go and do that at the start of the year, and I want to spend some time at home too.That’s my favourite part of it all. Touring is fine, but recording is why I started the band, so I just want to keep making records.”

There’s no question that Frightened Rabbit deserve their brief respite, and you can’t help but feel total faith that the next album is in safe hands, and it will be very surprising indeed if it doesn’t carry them still deeper into the hearts of the general public.

Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

There is every reason for Frightened Rabbit to be triumphant. After two critically well received albums they teeter on the edge of the mainstream, while Glasvegas, the band they are likely to be erroneously compared to have proven themselves exactly as good as you would expect of a group hyped by today’s Alan McGee and today’s NME; right up there with date-rape and bowel cancer.

Adding members at such a rate they should be approaching Los Campesinos! in terms of stage-filling ability this time next year, Frightened Rabbit’s sound has been expanding appropriately. Their new LP, The Winter of Mixed Drinks kicks off with ‘Things,’ a thudding behemoth of a song which swells and reaches upward ad infinitum like an ancient stone fist.

And there is an ancient quality to the album – if you liked the ho down atmosphere provided by mandolin and folk dance rhythm on the last record’s only excursion into cheeriness, ‘Old Old Fashioned’, you’ll enjoy a lot of the similarly twinkly, strummy, handclappy textures present here. Case in point: ‘The Loneliness and the Scream’, which is far, far, jollier than the title would suggest.

In fact, the whole album could be summed up in that previous sentence – Leonard Cohen said on his recent tour that despite “studying deeply in the philosophies and religions…cheerfulness kept breaking through”. Well cheerfulness has not only broken through here, it has completely eviscerated the melancholy that the band previously wielded like a hammer to the chest. Indeed, the album seems to be perfectly (and as a man exactly as cynical as I could add, consciously) designed to be hammered out from festival stages. The Winter of Mixed Drinks? More like the summer of pear cider.

Which is, perhaps just to mopey old me, a bit of a problem. It’s like having a friend who got you through your darkest times by always being slightly worse off than you – you’d been dumped, they’d been stabbed by their ex-girlfriend – who is now engaged to the man/woman/manwoman of their dreams. You don’t resent their happiness, but you can’t quite find it in your heart to be completely 100% happy for them either.

It doesn’t help that they drop the ball themselves occasionally, either. ‘Nothing Like You’ should be one of the best pop songs they’ve created, right up there with ‘The Twist’, but the song demonstrates its ill-fittedness for the band by forcing Scott Hutchison to sings in a much higher register than suits him and ends up sounding strangled, in a decidedly not good way. Add in the patently laughable key lyric “She was not the cure for cancer/and all my questions still ask for answers” and you’re left wondering if this really is the same band who used to hold your hand and scream into the void for you.

Still, lead single ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ is, despite copping the central conceit from British Sea Power’s superior ‘Fear of Drowning’, excellent and ‘Living in Colour’ hits all the right anthemic notes without feeling forced.

Overall, this album leaves me wondering whether if Frightened Rabbit have really changed for the worse or whether it’s just a personal preference for misery that leaves me feeling a bit cold and exhausted by the perpetual triumphalism of Winter of Mixed Drinks. My sneaking suspicion is there’s a smidgeon of the latter, but a huge wedge of the former, which is a real shame. Still, I’m happy for them. I really am. But if they want someone to bitch about ex girlfriends and the bad old times with, I’m right here, waiting for my old friends to come back.

Frightened Rabbit

December 2, 2009

Out in that big ol’ world there are a great many bands that split opinions, and here at MG, we’re no exception – to see proof of this just look for the editor’s dissenting opinion in the staff vote on albums of the year. However, perennial favourites Frightened Rabbit are one of the few bands that enjoy near-universal popularity here [Ed - true, see this live review for starters]; and judging by the crowd at The Warehouse, we’re not alone in our love of their Scottish indie-cum-folk.

The impact of the packed venue is not lost on singer Scott Hutchinson, who appears speechless at the scale of the following his band had amassed, during opener ‘The Modern Leper’, and a fact that eventually creates the highlight of the night. The band play the majority of their 2008 album, The Midnight Organ Fight, alongside a couple of tracks from their forthcoming album, The Winter Of Mixed Drinks. However, even with a setlist of respectable length, the set seems short. The feeling of brevity is a by-product of the energy poured into the show by a band that seem, after a year with an impressive tour diary, to have genuinely maintained a sense of excitement when playing their songs.

The true highlight of the night comes during the encore. The full band return to the stage, after a solo Scott Hutchinson performance of ‘Poke’, and launch into ‘Keep Yourself Warm’. It takes two lines before the band realise that their singing is superfluous to proceedings; with 800 people singing every word, Scott takes a step back, holding his head in his hands. I’ve been finding it difficult to put into words exactly ‘why’ this gig is so special, but it’s this moment that did it for me. The response from the crowd, combined with the performance, mingles into one hair-raising spectacle. The band display the perfect interaction with their fans, and show how a performance cannot be purely one-sided to create a show to stick in the memories of everyone involved.

There are some problems however, and it is notable that the PA doesn’t seem to meet the requirements of the band, with a nasty reverb occurring whenever a bass note is struck; it leads me to wonder whether the band have outgrown such small venues, and as to whether 2010 will be the year they are promoted to the big-time venues. Here’s hoping…

Cymbals Eat Guitars

And so our hot, new, overly-innovative series continues! This week, we’ve employed one of our favourite bands of 2009, Cymbals Eat Guitars, to review the week’s singles releases. We’ve caught them on camera (as filmed by the ever-talented Tim Boddy) reviewing ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ by Scottish amazings Frightened Rabbit, ‘Little Secrets’ by ball-squeeze-at-the-disco’ers Passion Pit and ‘Russian Roulette’ by seems-to-be-2009′s-Aaliyah, Rihanna. And without even a prompt, they invent an impromptu (and very un-Muso’s Guide) rating system quantified in peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

If you’ve been following this series, you’ll have noticed that we’ve been picking our very favourite bands to take part, and it’s a great honour to have Cymbals Eat Guitars in with us this week. Their debut album Why There Are Mountains wraps wild experimentation around a core of bombastic indie rock, and is certainly in my personal favourites of the year. Album-opener ‘… And The Hazy Sea’ is the finest opening track I’ve heard all year, drawing me all the way into Cymbals Eat Guitars’ passages of crashing guitars, noisy brass and quietly shimmering jangle. The mastery comes in the way they combine these sounds so fluently without ever sounding awkward, brash or ungrounded; very rarely has a debut album sounded so intense and bouncy at the same time.

The album’s gaps and ramshackle are what makes it, and it was our honour to catch up with them last week not only for A Chat but also to see how they would deal with the task of being our guest reviewers for the week. It’s more curious as they’re one of the few bands of the current glut to have received nigh-on universal praise across the most prestigious parts of the reviewing world. How does being on the other side feel?

Enough fluent prose, here’s something interactive!

Cymbals Eat Guitars on ‘Little Secrets’ by Passion Pit:

Cymbals Eat Guitars on ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ by Frightened Rabbit:

Cymbals Eat Guitars on ‘Russian Roulette’ by Rihanna:

Wasn’t that fun! Now go on, run along to your record-warehouse of choice and invest in some singles like you used to in the ’90s. It’s a really awesome thing to do and what’s more, you can still totally do it!

Frightened Rabbit

That’s all we know. And believe us, we’re excited.

Remember we love Frightened Rabbit <————————THIS————————————— &c.> much.

Here’re some reminders of how, why, who, where and when our collective love for them perpetuated itself.

Now don’t question the newsworthiness of this, it is news. Come on! The Midnight Organ Fight is probably the album most loved by the most amount of us here at MG Towers so we’re in a bit of a froth about this.

It’s going to be released in, er, early 2010. Ah, specificity! More precisely, there’ll be an as-yet-unknown single in November. This was revealed via Facebook by a very trusty source.

Feel the love.

Of Montreal

2009′s been a corker, and we’ve only just entered its second half. And what better way to mark its passing than by a quick, chronological rundown of the best live moments thus far…

Russell Warfield

Of Montreal at Manchester University Students Union – January 29

Men dressed as pigs sprayed the crowd with pink feathers during the final, euphoric chorus of ‘A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger’. A man dressed as a tiger held another man upside down whilst he bit his crotch (meanwhile, ninjas infiltrated the dance floor). Barnes underwent three costume changes; one of which left him naked except for shaving foam. These, and countless other relentlessly mental antics, felt like the perfect visual manifestation of the smile-inducing schizophrenia of last year’s Skeletal Lamping. And, luckily, the musicianship suffered nothing for the band’s visual ambitions. From the opener ‘She’s A Rejector’, the crowd were instantly energised and dancing right up until Barnes and company closed their encore with a fun and well-earned cover of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ (punctuated by Barnes launching himself into the crowd and trashing gear with his guitar). I left the gig smeared with shaving foam and pink feathers. Surely you must agree that any gig which allows me to use the sentence “I left the gig smeared with shaving foam and pink feathers” deserves an honourable mention as one of the best of the year?

Marmaduke Duke

Peter Harris

Marmaduke Duke at Birmingham Rainbow – March 2

Full time band members Simon Neil and JP Reid (from fellow Scot rockers Sucioperro) werejoined on stage by the other two members of Biffy Clyro, Ben and James Johnstone, a second drummer in Fergus Munro and the Duke himself, a Bez-a-like ‘played’ by Sucioperro ex-bass player, Michael Logg.

As the first note crashed out, a masked Neil dived into the crowd and every single face in the packed room was grinning, welcoming back the ‘mad’ Neil of old who we all feared may have passed with his recent dabblings with radio-friendliness. The Duke paced the edge of the stage and with his Michael Myers-style mask and odd and slight robo dancing, managed to convey a creepy sense of menace. The music backed this vibe up, always sounding dangerously dark even when the hooks were undoubtedly disco-based. This was no Bee Gee’s disco, it was the summer ball disco at the local loony bin.

Patrick Wolf

Greg Salter

Patrick Wolf at London Heaven – March 12

So this was when the latest incarnation of Patrick Wolf burst out of hiding onto an unsuspecting capital – decked out in a cape, blonde hair extensions and a pair of theatrical eyebrows, which were all quickly thrown aside (or into the audience) for a pair of leather trousers and, err, not much else, Patrick debuted tracks from The Bachelor to a partisan crowd. Having been acrimoniously dropped by his major label after The Magic Position, you could hear the determination to prove his critics wrong in his voice and see it in his stage presence. The long, narrow-tunnelled venue meant Patrick was, quite rightly, the focal point and the revelatory opening quickly gave way to a mass singalong. ‘Tristan’ rubbed shoulders with ‘Hard Times’(even ‘Battle’ sounded great) and Patrick Wolf had well and truly returned.

The Fall

Joseph Rowan

The Fall, London Koko – April 1

Not many frontmen can provide a similar level of entertainment when confined to a wheelchair. But then the inimitable Mark E Smith and his loose band of musicians have never done things like a normal band. The man himself was in a surprisingly ebullient mood, and even his recently broken hip didn’t stop him from wheeling about the stage and interfering with the amps, in his usual fashion. Thankfully, though, the sound was about as good as one could expect from a Fall gig, and especially one at Koko. It was difficult to find fault with the excellent set, comprising as it did the best cuts from the last three albums, a couple of decent older tracks and some promising new material. The new band felt confident and tighter, and MES even sang the whole set (although the last three songs were sung backstage). Over thirty years into their career this band, fortunately, still show no signs of slowing down.

Sonic Youth

Catherine Wilson

Sonic Youth at London Scala – April 27

Sonic Youth’s fleeting return to the UK sparked a flurry of excitement in London with the announcement of a sole show at The Scala in King’s Cross in April. A whole raft of Muso’s writers grabbed tickets by hook or by crook and we were in good company as members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Klaxons looked on from the balcony. An intoxicating noise-fest ensued, with new tracks from 2009’s The Eternal kicking heels with Yoof classics like ‘No Way’, ‘The Sprawl’ and ‘Hey Joni’. Thurston Moore’s youthful energy and Kim Gordon’s ice-cool aloofness almost transported the audience back to the fuzzy post-punk noise of the ‘80s. Then we realised that, although The Eternal is really Sonic Youth on cruise control, seeing Thurston attack one of his many guitars with a drumstick reminds us that Sonic Youth are still a very important band.

Johnny Foreigner

Paul Taylor

Johnny Foreigner at Southampton Joiners Arms – May 12

The Joiners Arms is arguably the finest live venue in the South of England as it’s ideal for everybody – from those who desire the swell of the front, to others who show appreciation from the safety net of a wall to lean on. It’s also one of the best places to catch a band on an upward ascent in popularity.

So a band with the stature of Jo Fo playing was quite a coup, especially with their having one of the most critically acclaimed albums of recent (last year’s Waited Up ’til It Was Light) under their proverbial belts, with their second – Grace And The Bigger Picture – set for release later this year.

Johnny Foreigner’s set was an ideal mixture of new and old – enough of the songs that everyone knew – such as ‘Salt Peppa And Spinderella’, and ‘Suicide Pact, Yeh?’ carefully balanced with songs from the new record. After the show the band wandered around the venue, chatting to fans that hadn’t made their way into the night.

This is how all gigs should be – a contrast from the norm where the bands scurry backstage after the show to a bus waiting to drive to the next huge, faceless arena.

Scott Hutchison

Dave McBurnie

Scott Hutchinson at Aberdeen Snafu – May 15

The Scottish music scene is in the midst of a musical renaissance. With bands such as The Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks, the North is finally making music of a quality that has for so long been the sole responsibility of Belle and Sebastian. Frightened Rabbit are one of these bands, and it was quite the shock when lead singer Scott Hutchinson announced a secret gig via the bands MySpace. The 300-capacity venue was queued out, even in the grim northern weather which caused a slight delay in the program. As a result, Hutchinson appeared visibly inebriated when he took to the stage; this didn’t hinder him from having a hilarious repartee with the crowd. Stripped back versions of the band’s repertoire were mingled with tales of Lancashire Hotpots and Ikea draught excluders, and the audience ate it up. Hutchinson played the majority of The Midnight Organ Fight, along with several tracks from Sing the Greys – most notably the crowd favourite ‘Snake!’. The highlight of the evening however, was Scott walking into the middle of the floor and playing an unplugged version of ‘Poke’. The general silence of the room, broken only by Hutchinson’s acoustic picking and Scottish burr, was incredible, and really highlighted the strengths of Scott’s lyrics. Without a doubt one of the finest gigs I have had the pleasure of attending.

Metronomy

David Lichfield

Metronomy at Manchester Club Academy – May 31

Bolstered by the addition of drummer Anna Prior and bassist Gbenga Adelekan, Metronomy’s sensual Hot Chip template once again became something celebratory in the live setting. Drawing heavily from on Nights Out LP, the crisp warmth of their recorded output translated gratifyingly well, as ever. ‘My Heart Rate Rapid’ is still as bittersweetly euphoric as ever but with added bite, while ‘Radio Ladio’ manages to aurally resemble a 1982 computer game soundtrack, yet remains incerdibly contemporary. While the mass majority of indie-fied electro-pop bands can tend to sound formulaic, it’s the skills of Joseph Mount (in high demand as a producer/remixer) that make Metronomy such a unique proposition. As comforting as they are danceable, not even the presence of countless Nathan Barleys in the audience can spoil the current of elation running through the venue. Armed with a string of deliciously wonky, innovative yet accessible minor hits, commercial success should be a given.

Jarvis

Stef Siepel

Jarvis Cocker at Amsterdam Paradise – June 13

He walks on and starts handing out grapes, for Pete’s sake! And beer! And this while the band is playing new instrumental ‘Pilchard’. He is approaching fifty, but the only thing that gives that away is the beard, and the slightly overlong hair covering his eyes. I guess it’s all right, he’s at the end of the tour. He plays what looks like a plastic flute, he smiles, but above all he runs, sings, dances, yelps off-mic: in other words, the man gives it his all. Two encores later everyone is satisfied and has seen perhaps the best entertainer currently working, especially for under twenty quid. The songs are still as good as ever, and he proves he can do about anything from ballads to rockers with the same zeal. Another quick quip, another anecdote, another song. He gives quality, heart and entertainment, and effortlessly at that.

Frightened Rabbit

Christopher Panks

Frightened Rabbit at Glasgow Goat – June 21

The West End festival in Glasgow is possibly the best time of year; exams are finished and the whole West End – usually smothered by pretence – teems with life. Glasgow’s 15-minute summer makes an appearance.

Ashton Lane, the cobbled Victorian street, straddled with bars, sings with all the musicians of the minute and the beer gardens overflow. Having enjoyed all the usual Ashton Lane adventures, a rumour circulates that Frightened Rabbit are playing a last minute show at The Goat.

For non-natives two facts are important here: firstly, The Goat is a small gastro-pub, not a music venue, secondly, that generally all Frightened Rabbit rumours turn out to be true – and the worst kept secrets.

As I arrived it was already beyond cramped, and punters were spilling out onto the patio. Good fortune, however, presented me with a prime spot on the balcony and an unbelievable view. The set was typical of the Rabbit, largely comprising of anthems from The Midnight Organ Fight. The real trump card however came during the encore as Scott grabbed his guitar, legged it up the stairs to stand inches from me, and delivered an unplugged version of ‘Poke’ to the, now silent, rabble below. Timeless and perfect do not do it justice.

We Were Promised Jetpacks

I’ve totally taken We Were Promised Jetpacks to my heart – ever since back in February when they played The Borderline, they’ve carved a little path in my left ventricle. And now I’m at 2009’s halfway mark, I can safely say that These Four Walls is my favourite debut LP of the past six months; it’s an album so exciting that the only way in is to listen and listen to it until you’re essentially inside it. The melodies give me the impression they’re alive and on fire and the lyrics have this enormous, irreparable vigour. And yes, I’m using first person here because it’s my love for the band that counts. I’m not speaking on behalf of anyone else, ‘Jetpacks can do that well enough for themselves.

Comprising Adam (vocals), Michael (guitar), Sean (bass) and Lackie (drums), they’re balanced, entirely enthralled by the lives they’re leading and extremely lovely to boot. They share a love of Dr Dre‘s 2001, Wetherspoon’s pubs, early Kings of Leon and Biffy Clyro. Though entirely without realising it, they have produced an album all of their own.

Having formed in Glasgow at school many years ago, the four-piece have all just graduated (apart from the band’s drummer, who’s been working for the past year), and can hardly believe they’re a few months away from a coast-to-coast US tour with Fat Cat compatriots (and nigh-on idols) The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit: “It’s a scary thought,” offers drummer Lackie. “We knew it was planned but didn’t know it was gonnae happen – we found out in the last couple of weeks.” It’s all part of the fact that We Were Promised Jetpacks somehow fail to realise their own power. I tell them how diverse I find their album, the fact that ‘This Is My House This Is My Home’ is an entirely distinct offering from ‘Quiet Little Voices’, and bassist Sean’s instinctive reaction is an honest, immediate “really?”.

“All our songs are old to us,” he continues. “When we wrote them we never thought we’d be making an album with them and going on tour with them to America – they’re all made for live performance.” He’s amiably almost on the defensive, Lackie subtly continuing on this understated theme as he tells me about the band’s plans for the next album (making sure he touches wood before carrying on): “We’ve got more experience but we won’t be different, we’ll be writing in the same way – all of our songs have gone through the same process.”

So from a bunch of friends playing together at school to a tour de force full of rollicking melodies, how did it get to this? “If it wasn’t for Frightened Rabbit, we wouldn’t have been signed.” And Sean’s right; We Were Promised Jetpacks were picked up by Fat Cat after MG favourites Frightened Rabbit put them in their top friends on their MySpace.  But are they best friends, these two bands and The Twilight Sad? There’s a keenness to lump them in with some sort of faux-Glasgow scene… “We’re not that close,” says Lackie. “We know Frightened Rabbit a bit more ‘cause we went on tour with them. These bands were our favourite bands in the world before we got signed so it takes a while to get past that.”

Signing to Fat Cat while getting to the tail-end of their degrees would’ve been a tad challenging for most but oh no, the three still-studying members of ‘Jetpacks took it in their stride. Lackie was studying Film and Media with German and Sean a degree in Mathematics; Adam earned his dues in Politics, and Michael, much to Sean and Lackie’s confusion, studied Electronics with Music (“we’re not sure what it means!”). And as much as a record deal signals ‘WIN!!!’, Lackie hasn’t got his degree results yet because he hasn’t paid his library fines! “It’s been a busy few months with the end of our degrees, but now we’ve got to see how long we can drag it out for.” And so the modesty continues…

All of that considered, These Four Walls has been out for almost a month now. Broadly speaking, it’s been received to a sea of praise. But how do ‘Jetpacks deal with reviews? “It’s good when they’re hilariously bad and they try and slate you,” says Sean, before being interrupted by an excitable Lackie: ”My mum’s got Google Alerts set up! Every time a new one comes up, she’ll phone me – and then there’ll be silence for ages while she’s trying to find it, you can hear clicking and stuff, and then she reads it word-for-word. She knew we were going to America before I did. “You’re playing a festival in Colorado,” she said.” Bless.

The transition between schoolfriends-in-a-band and band-as-job-headlining-a-festival-in-your-hometown (namely Hinterland) came pretty sharpish for We Were Promised Jetpacks. At that particular show at Glasgow’s fairly sizeable ABC2, I became concerned that singer Adam was going to do his voicebox some injury, and in a parallel existence, the rest of the band to their hands. “I was overwhelmed by that gig, we all were,” said Sean. “People were singing the words, it was so busy – it was great.”

How long have These Four Walls’ songs been loitering, I ponder… “‘Quiet Little Voices’ was written three or four years ago now – since we found out we were getting to record an album we’ve only written about two songs.” Lackie is bashful on revealing this snippet, for sure. “We wrote ‘This Is Our House This Is Our Home’ when recording; the album; we just stayed up late one night in a farmhouse and played ‘til late ‘cause no-one was around”. But don’t be fooled, the songs mean a lot to the band even though they’ve been lurking for a number of years now.

And this marked honesty transfers to the stage. At the band’s album launch in Glasgow ( when they played the wondrous King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut), ‘Jetpacks were forced to debut one of their new songs without really planning to. Sean tells me more: “We’d come off stage and people were shouting for another so we didn’t have anything else to play so we thought we might as well. It’s a bit louder than our other songs but more of the same.”

And on this note, ‘Jetpacks have neatly summed themselves up; they have no idea just how much variation their sound comprises, and probably no idea why everyone loves them so. With the development we’ve seen in the past few months, it’s easily conceivable that their compatriots could end up in the estuary if they carry on growing at this rate…

Friday June 12, 2009

Having arrived at the pretty amazing looking campsite at a pitiful 9pm, despite a fairly traffic-free journey, I erect my tent in record time, hope I don’t regret my rushed job come a downpour and fire off to the main stage. The backdrop is awe-inspiring behind the main stage; Loch Ness reaches to meet the sky and both mimic each others colour as best they can. Either side hills yawn into the distance and I would say that Inverary’s Connect (RIP) is the only festival in my experience that could rival Rockness‘ simply stunning setting.

On stage, Friday’s main stage headliner The Flaming Lips are playing to a puzzlingly diminished crowd. As I look around I swear I can see one of the Family Ness jump up to grab a note or two for lunch, then realise I’m being silly. However, literally nothing would seem to bizarre to believe possible, for a band who are flanked by an army of dancing tellytubbies and what looks like the very hungry caterpillar. Just before the encore, there’s enough time for the now seemingly obligatory American musician speech about what a dick Bush was and the fellatio for Obama. They wrap up with the stunning ‘Do You Realise’ and as they do I conclude that it may have been questionable to put The Flaming Lips on as a Friday headliner, particularly at this sort of festival. Do you realise, as epic and beautiful as it is, perhaps would have been more suited to bring Rockness to a close.

A wee wander later and we find ourselves in the Wrongness tent for the Ceilidh, fully expecting a bit of dashing white sergeants and traditional frivolity. Disappoint lies in wait as this is less strip the willow, more stripped down acid jazz with a violin playing lines vaguely reminiscent of the original tunes. Bemused as to how anyone could mess with such a winning formula as highland country dancing, I am shocked to discover that a human being exists who can make this worse. A skinny feller saunters up to a microphone and starts delivering apparently free styled rhymes based loosely on the names of dances. To label it cringeworthy would sell cringing short, though I sincerely hope he enjoyed his day out and was returned to his cell in Raigmore psychiatric ward promptly.

Saturday June 13

I bum around the campsite enjoying the frankly implausibly stunning weather and try to correct my spine after the abysmal chiropractic job my badly constructed tent did during the night. At some point, I heard the pitter-patter of tiny raindrops but thankfully the rain has held off. Full of pride for inventing a new drink called a Rocktail (Jack, coke, lime, blackcurrant, white wine, velvet, vodka), I ponder what I’m going to do to the idiot whose scheduling error means I have to choose between the stupendous Frightened Rabbit and my beloved French Wives. But arriving at the desolate Fat Sam Tent, I make a snap decision and run back up the hill made all the more insurmountable by my newly acquired wellies and the sweltering heat. I arrive at the Black Isle Pub in time to see the majority of a storming set by the newly reunited French Wives, all the richer for guitarist Scott’s presence.

I arrive back at the now packed Fat Sam Tent to witness a troubled set from Selkirk’s favourite sons Frightened Rabbit. Technical difficulties are probably to blame but in the short set is littered with time and tuning slips. Though towards the tail end during anthems ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ and ‘Head Rolls Off’, it seems to be forgotten – mass singalongs ensue. Festivalgoers with an iota of sense wait in Fat Sam’s for the downpour of Noah’s Arc proportions to finish, and I bask in the warm glow of my own smug self-satisfaction at having already swapped my moth bitten four-year-old trainers for a shiny new pair of wellies.

Frightened Rabbit - photo by Euan Anderson

The weather stops almost on cue for Dizzee Rascal, who entertains a bumper crowd with a selection of hits ranging from recent collaborative effort ‘Dance With Me’ to first single ‘Fix Up, Look Sharp. There’s just enough time to trek up the hill to catch half an hour of recently reformed dance giants Orbital who, I am pleased to report, still wear those glasses with lights on the side, making them look like the softest Dr. Who villains of all time.

Dizzee Rascal - photo by Euan Anderson

Sadly headliner time must be split and it’s time for Basement Jaxx who play a super greatest hits set, which really ticks every box that you want in a festival headliner. The tracks are feel good pop songs considerably improved in the live arena, the warmth emanating from the stage and the atmosphere as good as you experience at any other festival in the UK; ‘Romeo’ and ‘Bingo Bango’ are particular highlights.

Basement Jaxx - photo by Euan Anderson

Sunday June 14

The oppressive warmth of my tent is made all the more unbearable as I discover my arms are brutally sunburnt. Upon inspection of my face, burning is present there too, though not as apparent. I think I must be the only person ever to get burned by the Invernesshire sun, particularly to this level, I am such a bright red you could have put an antenna on my head and had me dancing by the side of Wayne Coyne. Down to what can only be an administrative error of the highest order, the sun is in scorching form again and campers litter the ground as though war wounded.

To the music, and having endured 10 minutes of the finest unredeemable slurry that The Wombats could offer, the members of our group with taste hit the Clash arena for some breakbeat genius in the form of Soulwax, the crowd lap it up. Shapes are thrown. Biffy Clyro rounds off a musically chalk and cheese hour, with a perfectly balanced set mercifully ranging their entire career from the brutal 57 to the heartbreaking Machines. This is something that is to be expected, though, of a band with enough experience to easily be labelled festival veterans, particularly in their homeland. Sadly I can only manage to watch the hero that is James Murphy spin some classic disco tunes for 10 minutes, before I have to hot foot it back to the main stage for festival closers, The Prodigy.

It’s a set that’s almost as brutal as Biffy Clyro’s, which has barely died on the air yet, and contrary to popular belief it’s the set of a band who still have the energy and the tunes to cut it at this level. Though sparsely scattered throughout, the new songs mark a return to the former glories of their early rave-influenced albums, an inspiration certainly less apparent on Always Outnumbered… Many of the tracks feel as fresh as the day I first heard them, and seem to have more life breathed into them with every pace Keith Flint makes on the spot, as though he’s jumping on a set of bellows.

I am relieved to report that though Flint is mere weeks from the big 4-0, and has put on a few pounds, he still looks and conducts himself like an absolute nutjob. This is not a band merely going through the motions 20 years before bursting onto the scene to give Britpop a kick in the stones. This band still believe in these songs and the set is delivered with refreshing conviction. And why not? ‘Firestarter’, ‘Breathe’ and ‘Out of Space’ are all, from the crowd’s reaction, timeless classics and certainly tunes I’d rather define my generation than ‘Live Forever’.

All too briefly, the fireworks are blooming in the sky and again the loch does its best job at recreating the beauty that the sky is claiming. All pour into the last tent playing music for the last few tunes of Erol Alkan, and when calls of “wan mair tune!” go unheeded, with explosive remnants still hanging in the overcast sky, it’s all over.

Hopefully the withdrawals of Zane Lowe and Brodinski will have saved the organisers enough money to feasibly host this festival next year, despite turbulent economic conditions which have seen so many festivals cancelled this year. This was Rockness’ fourth year however, with this weekend as evidence, this festival appears to be well established enough to ride the storm. This reporter certainly hopes so.

More photos by Euan Anderson were taken, have a gander: Alabama 3, Biffy Clyro, Placebo, Sneaky Sound System, Soulwax,