Frightened Rabbit - I Feel Better

Artist: Frightened Rabbit Single: I Feel Better Label: Fat Cat Link: http://www.myspace.com/frightenedrabbit First up, I owe this single a debt of gratitude.  Frightened Rabbit have made me aware how limited my knowledge of Scottish music is.  As I scroll through my iTunes, I realize records from Scotland I own are by Belle and Sebastian and Camera Obscura, two bands which write excellent, if extremely similar, music.  I now know these bands are not representative of all Scottish music.  Not all Glasgow musicians write wistful twee-pop. Having said that, part of what make B&S so internationally accessible is the reasonably mild accent of singer Stuart Murdoch.  It was easy to listen to ‘Tigermilk’ and feel like you were expanding your horizons, while still being able to understand the lyrics. The same can’t be said for Frightened Rabbit.  On ‘I Feel Better’, Scott Hutchison’s vocals lay down a stark challenge for the listener.  Indeed, if it weren’t for the amazingly compelling twenty three seconds of music that precedes the introduction of lyrics, the accent alone might make this record all too easy to dismiss.  But brother Grant Hutchison’s schizophrenic drumming anchors the track, while the dueling guitars of Scott Hutchison and Billy Kennedy compete for second place in the mix.  Think Dodos, if a little beefed up. And while at first it’s the music itself that makes this song worth the listen, once adjusted to the vocals bring ‘I Feel Better’ into a class of its own.  Although the subject matter (a broken relationship) is well worn territory, Hutchison sings with faux confidence which brings a high level of emotional authenticity. Rating: 4/5.