ALBUM REVIEW: Frightened Rabbit- Pedestrian Verse

The transformation of Frabbit from their breakout album Midnight Organ Flight to Pedestrian Verse is a strange, but still completely sensible one. On Organ Fight, the band had a raw and emotional sound. They utilized it incredibly well in displaying the intense sadness of a breakup. Plus, that was when they weren’t signed to Atlantic records. The Winter of Mixed Drinks saw them become more sonically powerful, at the cost of losing some of that raw emotion. It makes sense in terms of their growth, but it wasn’t quite as great as Organ Fight. Now, with their major label debut, we have a Frabbit that is finally both emotionally raw and sonically powerful. And it’s pretty great.

While this whole “Faulx-lk” genre taking over the mainstream has boded some good (The Lumineers) and bad (Phillip Phillips), I think it’s opened the door wide for acts that have traditionally been considered real folk. Case in point, Frightened Rabbit. This explosion of guitars and beards on the radio has made now a prime time for Frightened Rabbit to break out, and this emotionally resonant and fantastic sounding record will hopefully accomplish some of this.

The big thing I’ll point out is that Scott Hutchinson has been one of my favorite vocalists since I first heard Midnight Organ Fight. His voice really conveys the immense heartbreak of their music, and he always feels earnest and real. His wailing can also be really spine-tingling. Sadly, The Winter of Mixed Drinks had the band fall back on catchy choruses more than Hutchinson’s powerful vocals. Here, we have a phenomenal vocal performance from Hutchinson on nearly every track. Plus, the tracks manage to remain catchy! It’s great!

The anthem style that the band has grown into also truly suits their sound well. Every song sounds like a call of arms to sad people. Each song soars loudly through the air, propelled by the driving guitars and nice percussion. It acts as a backbone to really help Hutchinson show off his stuff. Even some of the more electronic stuff on Backyard Skulls works incredibly well. While it initially feels out of place, it eases into the song and makes complete sense before the end.

The album isn’t as strong in the songs department as the past two were. Not that anything is bad, because that’s not the case. Except, here, there aren’t as many tracks like Keep Yourself Warm or The Loneliness and the Scream, which their past two albums were chock full of. Songs that had catchy hooks and managed to be incredibly powerful. Here, there aren’t as many “Hook” elements. While this is generally a good thing (It allows for more focus on their already amazing sound and lyricism), it does make it seem like there aren’t as many standalone great tracks here as before.

Also, the lyrics are finally back to where Frabbit is best. The Winter of Mixed Drinks had some nice lyrics, but it didn’t really have the punch or emotional impact from Midnight Organ Fight. Here, Hutchinson has returned the sad lyrics, put in the anthems and production from Mixed Drinks, and that honesty that’s made all of their music good. On a whole, this album has really brought out the best in the group more than the record before it.

It’s not as striking as Midnight Organ Fight, and it doesn’t have as many memorable tracks as Winter of Mixed Drinks, but this album is easily Frightened Rabbit’s best beginning to end album as a whole yet. It really proves that Frightened Rabbit has some great potential, and it shows that the magic that made their breakout so wonderful is still there today.

Summary: Full of powerful music and raw emotion, Pedestrian Verse shows off what Frightened Rabbit does best by mixing the great production and choruses from Mixed Drinks and the raw emotion and lyrics of Organ Fight

Choice Cuts: Holy, The Woodpile, Dead Now, State Hospital

4.5/5

Watch the videos for Dead Now and The Woodpile below. Pedestrian Verse is out 2/5 on Atlantic Records/ Canvasback