Saintly Credit Report Gilders,

Frightened Rabbit are a good band; they deserve Glasvegas’ status or place in the music media and public awareness. I first became aware of them through KEXP Seattle and through The Twilight Sad’s MyArse site. Their EP, Sing the Greys is a nice little piece that includes the lovely song, Be Less Rude. Their first full album, Midnight Organ Fight, follows up what that EP promised; ominous keyboards, Scottish guitars, powerful drumming and songs sung in a manner that is faithful to everyday conversations of these parts.

Maybe I should have gone to see them before Tuesday but the incentive that finally had me running along to one of their gigs was the inclusion of My Latest Novel as the supporting act. It’s been a long time since Wolves was released and I await their second album, Deaths and Entrances, more than any other forthcoming album that I could imagine ever being released, however, I admit that I perhaps do Belle & Sebastian or Fanfarlo a slight disservice by that statement. For a lazy/tired east coaster, a support slot had to suffice and I headed over to Embra to pay visit to one of Scotland’s worst venues, The Liquid Rooms.

I managed to park up by 2000 hrs and fearing this would be the time My Latest Novel entered the stage, I ran the short distance from the car to the venue. Unfortunately, someone had marked out, in chalk, a pitch for the popular young persons’ sport of ‘hopscotch’ and as I ran past, a bunch of boisterous drinkers mushrooming from a bar wailed at me to take part. Of course, I had no time for such trivialities and I ran faster to reproofs of ‘Get it up yae, Harry Potter’, hastily issued by our fun-loving party-goers. It really took me by surprise, I’ve never had a Harry Potter insult before and although I’m used to dealing with insults daily, it’s been a while since I’ve had to tolerate those of rougher quality and I’m sure those who were responsible will regret their work in time.

My Latest Novel were brilliant. The sound in Liquid Rooms was perhaps not brilliant, it was painfully loud at one point and I did back off for the sake of ear health. This was the first time that I had seen My Latest Novel with a sixth member, an extra guitarist. The new sound is a bit heavier with more reliance on keyboards and a laptop, I worry about these potentially obscuring Laura’s violin but I’m sure they won’t. I do think that in their time away that they’ve been influenced by the sound of bands like The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit. The set list reads:

All in All in All is All
Hopelessly Endlessly
If the Accident Will
Lacklustre
A Dear Green Place
Dragonhide

It’s just the usual My Latest Novel stuff; it takes your mind away. There’s always so much happening in each layer of their sound and every composition is timed to perfection. They always amaze me.

Frightened Rabbit were good, but it didn’t matter to me. The venue was packed, mostly with stewdents; perhaps I was irritable, but they were irritating. They chatter through every song, ‘The thing about Julie that’s so annoying is that’s she’s always sending texts that have no context’, well, that’s just taking the nitpicking too far, Julie is a great girl. Many of these stewdents were highly dedicated to Frightened Rabbit and they surprised me with their memory of all the words, because sometimes for me, Frightened Rabbit just have one outstanding line in each song, like, ‘I think I’ll save suicide for another day’ or ‘I decided this decision some six months ago’ or ‘ Jesus is just a Spanish boy’s name’. I think the suicide song, Floating in the Forth, is becoming my favourite Frightened Rabbit song, I do worry. It’s the global economic crisis and winter, including Christmas that provokes me.

After picking up the discarded My Latest Novel setlist, I headed back to the Kingdom of Fife mystified by the Harry Potter insult, amazed by My Latest Novel, nonplussed that one of them dunted me with a table, amused by Frightened Rabbit, irked by stewdents and chilled by winter.