By: Michael Madavi
Artist: Frightened Rabbit
Title: Winter of Mixed Drinks
Label: Fat Cat Records
Genre: Rock : Indie
UPC: 600116998422
Territory: World
Release Date: 03.09.10

If Frightened Rabbit aren’t careful all of the critical praise they’re getting might go to their head. Though they were formed in only 2003 as a solo project of rhythm guitarist, vocalist and lyricist Scott Hutchison (now with 4 other members), their previous two records have already cemented them as a staple in the Scottish indie rock scene. Now with the release of their third full length LP, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, Frightened Rabbit is set to make the leap into mainstream recognition for their unique blend of impassioned indie-folk crossover.

After causing quite a stir in the blogosphere with their 2008 record The Midnight Organ Fight (9/10 on Drowned in Sound and an 8.1/10 on Pitchfork), the group extensively toured the US and UK, even supporting Death Cab for Cutie during their November 2008 UK & Ireland tour. While the previous release was clearly about the end of a relationship and its accompanying heartbreak, Rabbit’s new album looks forward. Hutchison explains: “the theme I’m going for is pushing yourself out to the edge of things and being alone, feeling lost and not knowing where you are, which is how I’ve felt recently. It’s not all fun and games, but hopefully it’ll just be less obviously personal and brutal than the last record. Less oppressive.” In this attempt he both fails an succeeds: Mixed Drinks is indeed less brutal and pain-ridden than Organ Fight, but there’s definitely no lack of emotion found. Instead, the record is fueled by energetic passion that keeps you swooning and tingling in euphoria with its freight-train drum beats, masculine vulnerability, and incessantly uplifting melodies.

The term epic can be applied selectively to music that invokes a seriously formidable and attention-locking presence, but it arrives in different incarnations and is achieved through different means. Frightened Rabbit’s particular blend of epic is derived almost exclusively from pure emotion: this is a full on cathartic release of tellingly personal issues through music that makes you want to scream from mountain tops, drink yourself crazy, dance as hard as you can, all at the same time. No song has a lull or seemingly forced moment; instead, the five-piece masterfully builds songs up and delivers powerful moments ribboned with heartbreaking honesty. These sound like pub atmosphere sing-alongs for misanthropes, too young to really connect with the old standards but still feeling the same tensions in their bodies as their fathers felt before them. In short, it feels young and honest without being adolescent. Rather Frightened Rabbit’s new album finds a home with those in a similar position to themselves: just as they teeter on the edge of mainstream recognition and a whole new world ahead of them as one of today’s most talented young acts, many young adults experiencing the same feelings of fear mixed with excitement as they leave the relative safety of youth will find a comforting shoulder here.

This is a band that demands attention and continues to rake in critical praise with each step they take. Be sure to grab a copy of The Winter of Mixed Drinks and hear Scotland’s best export since Belle and Sebastian.