Frightened Rabbit -Quietly Now! Liver! Lung!FR!

Sun 10th May, 2009 in Music Reviews

The measure of a live album’s success is if it makes you feel like you are actually there. Quietly Now! Liver! Lung! FR! makes you think you are mere metres away in an intimate venue, as the band bash away in the corner. The vocals are crystal clear and right at the forefront of the mix, giving it a particular intensity. The closeness of singer Scott Hutchison’s Scottish brogue gives you a bit more of an insight into the quite personal narratives that comprise most of his songs.

The album sees a live recording of Frightened Rabbit playing mostly acoustically at a venue called The Captains Rest in their hometown of Glasgow in July 2008. The tracklisting reflects the same running order as the band’s album of that year, Midnight Organ Fight (without the two instrumentals that is). As the record is largely concerned with a relationship break-up, the stories are kind of gritty and littered with a few words that would make a sailor blush. Even the thank-yous turn the air blue: “Thanks to our friend Dal, who is recording this in some fucking room back there.” However, it’s not gratuitous at all, conveying raw emotions and feelings that come across like a musical version of an Irvine Welsh novel.

The stripped-back nature of the songs really exposes the band’s honest storytelling. The lyrics also include some cracking one-liners, in particular, “Cause my trousers seem to love your floor” from My Backwards Walk and “Jesus is just a Spanish boy’s name” from Head Rolls Off. While the performance is predominately just a naked voice accompanied by guitar, the songs are fleshed out by accordion, glockenspiel and a mandolin summoned from “Ross’s magic arse”. Sweet harmonies and backing vocals abound. Fellow Glaswegian James Graham of the Twilight Sad also makes a guest vocal appearance on Keep Yourself Warm.

Despite the serious and stern stuff in the songs, the between-song banter shows these Scots to be utterly affable and funny chaps. The introduction to Old Old Fashioned explains that a band member “has to find his instrument”, while another helpfully offers, “It’s in your trousers!” The softest and barest song on this recording – which features at track 12 on Midnight Organ Fight – gets a great response from the crowd – going to show everyone loves a good Poke.

*Quietly Now! Liver! Lung! FR! is out now through Fat Cat.*