Eaten by Monsters

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The biggest bit of news to drop in casa EbM in last few months was that old favourites Frightened Rabbit would be releasing a new LP in 2013. That was good news because as creators of one of the best albums of the last half-decade, FR LPs are always worth paying attention to, but also because there would inevitably be a host of EPs and singles released to build up anticipation. And as a FR fanboy-completist, I’m willing to gobble all of these up with gusto.

We last had a FR EP back in November ’11, and whether any of the tracks from there will be on the new LP we can only speculate. What is known, however, is that the title track from State Hospital will make it on to the final album. Being the first song to emerge from the album’s writing session, frontman Scott has said it “set the tone” for the rest of the record. If that’s the case then fans of FR’s old stuff (which definitely includes me) are in for a treat. But it’s not a continuation of the upward trend in production values that we’ve seen through their last three albums; as I said when the last EP came out, the band’s longtime producer Peter Katis (a man with one of the most impressive resumes of recent times) is no longer on the scene and the band are handling production duties themselves. Whatever the reason for this (it may be a ‘creative’ decision or a side-effect of the band’s switch from indie FatCat to major Atlantic) I think ultimately it’s a step in the right direction. The songs on this EP carry a rawness and edge that is recognizable from their early work but which had been all but ironed out following 2008’s Midnight Organ Fight.

Of the other songs on this release, Boxing Night is the standout, reminiscent of Cheap Gold and It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop, and is by all accounts an old song given a final polish before being laid to rest. The collaboration with Aiden Moffat (late of Arab Strap), Wedding Gloves, is a leftfield ‘weird’ one, but what binds all five tracks together is an uncommon quality and a spirit that so many bands with promising beginnings lose as their career progresses. Frightened Rabbit are evidently still going strong, and still ones to watch.

Moving on from all the 7″s that have been covered on these pages lately, here’s a 10″ EP from EbM favourites Withered Hand. While the last WH release – the Heart Heart 7″ that came out in Feb. – represented a new direction for Dan Wilson’s project, Inbetweens is more representative of Withered Hand’s general sound. What I’ve always loved about WH, and which was perhaps slightly lacking in Heart Heart, is his ability to take the generic setup of acoustic guitar and crackly voice and turn it into something ultimately rather esoteric. Aside from his distinctive voice, there’s nothing overtly groundbreaking in the aesthetics of WH’s recorded output, but it does serve as a fine canvas to perfectly showcase the quality of the songwriting; to the point where his  2009 LP has been slowly creeping to the top of my all-time favourite albums list.

The title track on Inbetweens might not be WH’s best work, but it is nevertheless very good indeed, and it’s been my experience that WH songs tend to be ‘growers’, so come back in six months and this track may be a firm favorite.  Where this EP gets interesting for me as a WH fan is the B-side, where some old songs are revisited. If you include Meursault’s cover, this is the fifth recorded version of Oldsmobile Car (which I know better as Red Candle Bulb) that I’ve heard, and up until now every version has had some flaw or quirk in it that renders it slightly less than a finished product. That might have been a dodgy drum machine or some ever dodgier backing vocals (“shooby-shooby”?!), but I’m pleased to report that this version gives the song the treatment it has so long deserved.

More controversial, in my eyes, is the final track, (it’s a) Wonderful Lie. Originally released as a Christmas song in 2007, the song was so good that Dan changed a verse to make it less season-specific and incorporated it into his live shows.  This is a recording of that version complete with fleshed-out instrumentation, and it is very, very good.  What makes it sit uneasily with me is that it’s not quite as good as the original festive version.  I’m willing to accept that this might be because I have a strong emotional attachment to the old version – I’ve listened to it countless hundreds of times in the fortnightly period in which it’s acceptable to listen to Christmas songs – but secretly I’m sure it’s because the older version actually is better.

All in all, this 10″ has much to recommend it, both to Withered Hand fanboy completists and casual admirers of really great music.  Go buy it!

Withered Hand – Inbetweens 

Withered Hand – (it’s a) Wonderful Lie (new version)

Withered Hand – It’s A Wonderful Lie (old version)