hearsay

Looking back through the new music I’ve listened to this year, I’ve probably taken a turn towards more obscure bands. This was by no means an intentional move, but rather, I think, a result of less exciting releases from the usual suspects (Sub Pop, Merge, etc.); coupled with checking through more of the blogs instead of Pitchfork. Google Reader probably affected my tastes more than any individual source.

Frightened Rabbit is among the harder to find bands that I ran into, and save for the strong recommendation it got at catbirdseat, I would not have pursued. The song they had available for download, “Go-Go-Girls,” is decent but not my favorite. Then on their website there is “The Greys,” which is a good song but starts a bit harsh to really draw me in. When I finally gave Sings The Greys a full listen, it almost killed me. Brothers Scott & Grant Hutchison take some simple melodies and transform them into complexly beautiful songs. “Music Now” would be a good example, starting with what sounds like an 8-year old’s innocent demand before dropping the heavy bass drums and crossing over to a pop gem of layered harmonies. Then there is “Behave,” a somber folk song that could be on the soundtrack to Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. The whole album is full of such treats. I’d pretty much challenge anyone to listen to “Square 9″ and not love it. But then I love a good Scottish accent.

The song that really takes the cake for me is “Modern Leper,” a non-album track from myspace. The lyrics are absolutely brilliant, and are told from the point of view of a damaged man, termed as a ‘modern leper.’ He comments, “Well I’ve got this disease that I can’t shake, and I’m just rattling through life.” I think they’ve left the ‘disease’ up to interpretation. I would guess it to be heartbreak, but the song pretty much describes anyone who has lost their basis or drive. ‘The greys,’ so to speak. But despite the self-inflicted harm of pushing away those that care for him (“So I cut out all the good stuff / Yeah, I cut off my boot to spite my leg”), he is brought back through the intervention of unwavering love:

That that is you in front of me
And you’re back for even more of exactly the same
Well, are you a masochist?
You love a modern leper on his last leg
Well you’re not ill
And I’m not dead
Doesn’t that make us the perfect pair
Well stick with me
We’ll start again

How can you not fucking love that? Catbirdseat is right about distribution, though… they need to find a way that someone like me could purchase the actual album for less than $24. Download it here, because tragically, it will probably never get a U.S. release.

: Frightened Rabbit – Modern Leper :
: Frightened Rabbit – Square 9 :