Pitchfork

It seems like this Glaswegian trio just released their debut-- the stateside unveiling of Sing The Greys was only in October-- but they already have their follow-up in the can. And if "The Modern Leper" is any indication, they sure were in a hurry. That's not to say that Frightened Rabbit have gotten sloppy (though, admittedly, the band does seem to relish muddying up their melodies more now), but rather that any laconic pacing or remaining cuteness from the last album has been erased with a newfound sense of urgency.

Using acoustic and electric guitar interplay instead of a bassist, the band manages to give "The Modern Leper" a garage-rock drive without losing its folk pop melody. Synthesizing a "Come On Eileen"-ish barn-dance-fiddle acoustic line and a crashing, anthemic chorus of insistently downstroked electric guitars and thunderous drums, the song sounds at once like Saddle Creek-era Rilo Kiley (before they became enamored of synthesizers) and the most cathartic moments of the Twilight Sad. But it is also unmistakably the sound of Frightened Rabbit. From its lyrics about Scottish rain and Scott "I don't want you to know my real last name" Rabbit's bagpipe-drone of an accent to its undercurrent of self-loathing and pity, this is obviously a follow-up to last year's single, "The Greys". But drunkenly equating your personal shortcomings to a crippling illness-- calling yourself a modern leper and thinking that anyone who loves you is a masochist-- goes way beyond the "What's the blues when you've got the greys" malaise of the last record. No, these sentiments, though they are scored to a galloping sing-along, are more like the "pitch blacks."

MP3:> Frightened Rabbit: "The Modern Leper"
[from Midnight Organ Fight, due 4/1/08 on FatCat]