As the scene of my ‘education’, Northumbria University will always hold a special place in my heart, primarily because of the many sweaty, boozy hours I spent in its Student Union watching bands good, bad, and fucking terrible. However, as I have gradually degenerated from a hip ‘n’ happenin’ snake-hipped teen to a doughy late twenties office drone, so too did Northumbria fall from its pedestal as a regular fixture in Newcastle’s gig scene. Now though, after a major refit which has included reducing the capacity of the upstairs room (and in the process massively improving its atmosphere), it appears that the place is slowly trying to claw its way back into favour, having recently nabbed a couple of gigs which would usually be shoe-ins for one of the Academy venues. If you’ve ever been to the Academy, you’ll agree this is undoubtedly no bad thing.
Frightened Rabbit’s visit to Northumbria comes at the end of a year of great success, where their third record The Winter of Mixed Drinks has very nicely consolidated the massive critical acclaim which was so freely lobbed at its predecessor The Midnight Organ Fight. Singer Scott Hutchinson, speaking to us after the show, definitely feels happy with how 2010 has turned out: ‘I think it’s been great. We’ve always said that as long as we’re moving forward then we’re happy. I never pay too much attention to people saying that it’s going to be your year or whatever, because, well they can say what they like, but I’ve had a fucking fabulous year, I’ve really enjoyed it. The reception to the record has been good, and the more time that people have had with it, the better the reception to the songs has been’.
In keeping with all the good cheer surrounding the band (although Scott will hear nothing of the festive season until we’re into December), they are in wonderfully relaxed and amiable form tonight. The set is a pretty thorough trawl through the last two records, with Be Less Rude the only song from Sing the Greys to make an appearance, something which just illustrates the massive bounds Frightened Rabbit have made as a band since their earliest days. There’s little doubt that The Winter of Mixed Drinks has taken a while to fully worm its way into people’s consciousnesses but now that we’ve had nine months or so to live with the newer songs, they are sitting very comfortably alongside their older counterparts. Indeed, Swim Until You Can’t See Land, and set closer The Loneliness and the Scream are two of the evening’s high points, providing just as much singalong potential as the likes of I Feel Better and The Modern Leper.
As time has gone on, Frightened Rabbit’s recordings have unquestionably grown ever more polished. Clearly, this isn’t always a positive step, and it’s been the death of plenty of bands before them, but in this case, it has felt like a logical, organic growth, taking place as they have gradually accumulated members and grown in both confidence and stature. Scott can’t help but feel that he may have got just a little bit carried away with the extra instrumentation employed on the new record though: ‘It was huge, and I went a bit over the top, I’ll be the first to admit, and it was symptomatic of me feeling that The Midnight Organ Fight wasn’t quite right. I didn’t get to finish it, if you like, and doing The Winter of Mixed Drinks was almost like venting my frustration and getting everything on there, and then going fucking way over the top. I think now is the time to pull it back.’
Indeed, as it turns out, the fleeting instances where the band do strip things right down tonight are probably the greatest moments of a set not lacking in focal points. Scott delivers Poke and Good Arms vs Bad Arms solo, and it’s raw, gut-punching stuff. These songs serve to prove that no matter what strengths Frightened Rabbit develop as a band, ultimately, the thing they will always do best is to articulate the bleakest depths of lovelorn sorrow, and drag you down there with them.
This propensity with miserablism makes the band unlikely fodder for marketing types, yet still they have recently found their music thrust into millions of households thanks to a certain National Lottery advert. In spite of the odd bit of indier-than-thou vitriol, Scott sees no reason for self-reproach: ‘Until very recently, we were label-less, so we were paying for everything. I’m completely unapologetic about all that stuff because I do this so that I don’t have to do anything else and stuff like that goes back to the culture of downloading meaning you don’t make money from selling records. I have to make money somehow, and that’s one of the ways of doing it. A couple of people have been a bit... And I came to understand it, and now, I think I probably would be more wary of doing that in the future. I understand now that that album, and that song, will mean a lot to some people and to hear it in that setting might cheapen it a little bit, but, well, I don’t really care, because it’s going to be on for about two months, and it’ll be forgotten about by Christmas time. I won’t listen to too much stick, because you try working your arse off for four years for very little return financially, and then see if you’re going to give me shit for it! I don’t care. I haven’t actually even seen it. We’ve actually turned a lot of adverts down in the past, and there are a lot of companies I wouldn’t advertise. My thinking is that if somebody hears it and likes it, then it’s one more way of hearing the music.’
After a busy year, the band have one final blowout planned at the Bowlie 2 weekender which is being curated by Belle and Sebastian, and they intend to make the most of it: ‘It’s insane. I first looked at the line-up about two months ago and they added some more bands about a month ago, and it’s fucking even better. I think it’s probably one of the best festival line-ups I’ve seen this year. It’s our last show of the year, and it’s going to be our office party. It’ll feel extremely Christmassy.’
After Bowlie 2, don’t expect too much from Frightened Rabbit for a while, as Scott plans to go to ground to make album 4: ‘We’re going to really spend a long time doing it, I’ve got almost nothing written, so I’m going to have to go and do that at the start of the year, and I want to spend some time at home too.That’s my favourite part of it all. Touring is fine, but recording is why I started the band, so I just want to keep making records.’ There’s no question that Frightened Rabbit deserve their brief respite, and you can’t help but feel total faith that the next album is in safe hands, and it will be very surprising indeed if it doesn’t carry them still deeper into the hearts of the general public.
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