Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

One of the best performances I took in during the entirety of SXSW was Frightened Rabbit at the British/Scottish Music Embassy (Latitude 30). They played a blistering set that's energy and volume more than overcame the usual SXSW sound problems. I was interested after a few chords and enthralled by the time their sweating, screaming, beast of a drummer demolished his kit and stormed offstage amidst ample applause from the crowded house at the end of their all too short set. The Midnight Organ Fight (due out 4/15 on FatCat) captures plenty of the bands live energy, but also allows them to show off their quieter. Second half standout "Poke" shows that there is some beautiful songwriting going on in between all of the crashes and the feedback. "Poke" is a beautifully ragged song of love gone south and features some outstanding lyrical passages, including my personal favorite, "Why won't our love keel over as it chokes on a bone/ then we can mourn it's passing/ and then bury it in snow". "Poke" is the first song I've heard this year that has so fiercely grabbed my attention. I listen to it over and over and just can not get enough right now. The entire album is fantastic and I'm hoping to see the band come through later this summer or early fall.

Frightened Rabbit - Poke

Preorder The Midnight Organ Fight here