Pitchfork

In the 1990s, American alternative-rock bands and their UK soundalikes tended to repeat one particular chord progression, add their own angst-ridden lyrics, and call it a hit: Green Day's "When I Come Around", Better Than Ezra's "Good", Bush's "Glycerine", my high school pop-punk trio's "Erik Song". Two-piece Frightened Rabbit are from Glasgow, and they're not much for angst, but their take on N-Trance's "Set You Free" offers a twangy, earnest, rave-rooted variation on that former buzz-clip formula.

It's a love song, see: "Wanna hold you, baby," singer Scott begins as fractured guitars sound out their familiar theme, his brother Grant pitter-pattering on the drums. Thing about love, turns out, is "only love can set you free," or so the chorus reminds us. Like the chords, all the plain-spoken words fall just where they should in a song you'd have once heard on the radio, but something is plainly missing. While you wouldn't change the station when "Set You Free" came on, neither would you tape it for your friends.