I've listened to this album in a manner of ways; regular of speakers, on headphones, feeling lovesick while blasting over the speakers AND on headphones during that same feeling of lovesickness. And goddamn, I never got sick of it.

Needless to say, on headphones while feeling lovesick gave me the best reception, as the lyrics are just so. This album has possibly my favourite opener since 'Everything in its right place', I can't get enough of it. The rest of the album carries on and continues to kick my ass.

Are any of you enjoying this album right now?

quote:

Originally posted by RadiantSilvergun:
Are any of you enjoying this album right now?

Yeah, I am.

It's my album of the year (so far). I swear that each song has took a turn on me as being my favorite. I tried listening to their album sing the grey...dont like it at all. so i'm glad i never heard of them till now.

It's generic. Inspired genericism. Despite that, I'll give it a few more shots before the end; but so far... "meh", to quote JGlass... and my old roommate's ex-girlfriend. She said "meh" a lot too. She was pretty hot, so no offense to Jgla-

nevermind.

I listened to it a bit, but I'm a bit over indie popish rock type stuff... Either it has to be really good.. or I'm just gonna go listen to something better...

Gotta tell ya, I'm mighty sick of the bullshit attitude so many music fans have these days. Especially the "indie" kids.

You're over indie popish rock type stuff. That is a story to treasure, Liberalkid.


What the fuck is-AGH.

Songwriting is what matters. Songs that are good. Music that is good. Somehow it's become cool to talk about "texture" and use the word "sonic" instead, which is 99% of the time absolute bullshit.

The neat little noises or the brilliance of the sonic palette with which a band forms their soundscapes of sound matters about THAT much. Songwriting, melody, connection - that's what the fuck music is for. If the noises HELP that, move it in that direction, then they're a blessing from God.

But the way people talk about good music that is unadorned and unpretentious, like Frightened Rabbit, as if not trying to dance to the art-obsessed hipster community's tune is a FLAW of some kind, makes me want to puke right on the floor.

Doesn't anyone ever take a look at themselves? What a silly, confused conformist you seem saying that music that doesn't have chanting castrated cat robots is "generic" - what's GENERIC is the by the numbers electronic/ambient/experimental absolutely meaningless shit that is churned out by cowards who hide behind avant-garde posturing and use it both as a prop for their hollow, soulless tripe and as bait for critics.


GOOFY ASS PSYCHEDELIC NOISY "DAMAGED/FRAGMENTED ART ROCK" ISN'T NEW EITHER. AND IT'S NOT ORIGINAL. MUSIC SHOULD BE JUDGED ON ITS MUSICALITY AND ITS IMPACT, NOT BY THE HORSESHIT CRITERIA OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BELONG TO THE INTELLIGENTSIA. GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES.


And again, back to the being "over" indie rock or pop or whatever. This kind of a statement, even if the kid is sixteen or whatever, is extremely troubling. It's pathological, it speaks to a sickness in the community. What are some of you people talking about? We're music fans who mostly avoid the middle. This IS indie rock, son.

I do enjoy your rants, BlackGravel. I may not always agree with them, or even fully understand them, but I can't knock your passion.

On this occasion, I agree with you... I think. You're saying you like Frightened Rabbit, right? Me too. Love them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Borachon,

quote:

Originally posted by BlackGravel:
Gotta tell ya, I'm mighty sick of the bullshit attitude so many music fans have these days. Especially the "indie" kids.

You're over indie popish rock type stuff. That is a story to treasure, Liberalkid.


What the fuck is-AGH.

Songwriting is what matters. Songs that are good. Music that is good. Somehow it's become cool to talk about "texture" and use the word "sonic" instead, which is 99% of the time absolute bullshit.

The neat little noises or the brilliance of the sonic palette with which a band forms their soundscapes of sound matters about THAT much. Songwriting, melody, connection - that's what the fuck music is for. If the noises HELP that, move it in that direction, then they're a blessing from God.

But the way people talk about good music that is unadorned and unpretentious, like Frightened Rabbit, as if not trying to dance to the art-obsessed hipster community's tune is a FLAW of some kind, makes me want to puke right on the floor.

Doesn't anyone ever take a look at themselves? What a silly, confused conformist you seem saying that music that doesn't have chanting castrated cat robots is "generic" - what's GENERIC is the by the numbers electronic/ambient/experimental absolutely meaningless shit that is churned out by cowards who hide behind avant-garde posturing and use it both as a prop for their hollow, soulless tripe and as bait for critics.

GOOFY ASS PSYCHEDELIC NOISY "DAMAGED/FRAGMENTED ART ROCK" ISN'T NEW EITHER. AND IT'S NOT ORIGINAL. MUSIC SHOULD BE JUDGED ON ITS MUSICALITY AND ITS IMPACT, NOT BY THE HORSESHIT CRITERIA OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BELONG TO THE INTELLIGENTSIA. GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES.

And again, back to the being "over" indie rock or pop or whatever. This kind of a statement, even if the kid is sixteen or whatever, is extremely troubling. It's pathological, it speaks to a sickness in the community. What are some of you people talking about? We're music fans who mostly avoid the middle. This IS indie rock, son.

I like your passion regarding songwriting being the key to enjoying music, but don't you thing you're being a little too hard on Liberalkid?

He (maybe she?) listened to the album, it didn't move him, he moved on. I don't think he was pushing an agenda by not liking Frightened Rabbit's music. Determining the quality of someone's songwriting is highly subjective.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this is one of my favorite albums of '08.

Yeah, I like Frightened Rabbit.

Well, for one thing, I like plenty of music that would fall into the catagory Frightened Rabbit is in, so BlackGravel, when I call it generic it's not simply because it doesn't have contrived noise splotches all over it. Compared to other music of this type, I find it rote and jejune. It doesn't really even sound very indie to me, just more like a lower fidelity Incubus or Caroline's Spine. If it weren't for the brogue it wouldn't be garnering much attention at all, but it might have gotten radio play.

I prefer the Twilight Sad if I'm going with Scottish "indie" (I like distortion). This doesn't really tickle my fancy. I'm not sure this is indie-pop at all, so that's what i'm going to add to this ongoing argument. It's more Mountain Goats-ish in my book, except i like Darnielle a lot better.

It is indeed a he and that's exactly what happened. I gave the album a few listens and I wasn't compelled at all to give it more listens.

I love great lyrics, but I can't appreciate great lyrics without a sound or something that grabs me.

What I feel about Frightened Rabbit is that they're a mediocre band and while some people may like them they're not for me. There's still quite a few bands out there that I like and enjoy very much that fall under the indie rock or pop spectrum.

In response to your comments I feel your type of freak out over the smallest comments is exactly whats wrong with many such hipster kids. That feel the need to go on a whole fucking rant the moment someone voices their opinion about something that disagrees with them. Which you seem incredibly intent on doing the moment anyone says something you disagree with or even something mildly against a band you like. Also read my whole three line comment don't stop halfway through and proceed to write a rant, when I said I was over it, it mean I was over listening to just about everything that I could find in the genre. Instead I only listen to those bands that I find incredibly impressive, case and point two of my favorite bands, make relatively simple melodies with what I would consider gorgeous lyricism.

http://www.myspace.com/forestcitylovers
http://www.myspace.com/jeremymessersmith

Finally gravel get the fuck off your high horse, you're not so much better than the rest of us to be constantly lecturing us on how we should and shouldn't listen to music. I mean for fucks sake what do you do when you hear someone talk about how much they love some mediocre mainstream album, your head just explode.

"Kids" like me respond the way we do because:

1. We know.
2. We care.

"just more like a lower fidelity Incubus or Caroline Spine"



-Comments like this simply shouldn't be ignored by music fans. Just letting shit like this float by, are you kidding me? A band like FR puts together a great record, and people who have absolutely no idea what they're talking about get to just spout off shit like this? That's wrong, simply put. It's an affront to musicians in general. It's an affront to music.

It's not sincere, it's not based on knowledge or experience or insight; it's just nonsense people drool out for no good reason at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Liberalkid:
Finally gravel get the fuck off your high horse,

Incidentally, I found this picture of BlackGravel.

You know, maybe LiberalKid just doesn't like this band. It's not that hard to fathom people disliking these guys. They're a good band, a little samey, it's been done before (and better), but yeah, i'll admit that they definitely are good musicians and know how to craft a well-wrought tune.

However, universal claims about an opinion's validity is a little far-reaching. I mean, just because the music is well-executed doesn't mean everyone has to like it. Sure, he dismissed an entire genre (which i agree is a little baffling and maybe a little trendy - i don't keep up with the times to be honest), but maybe it's the case for LiberalKid. I tend to dislike Country as a genre, as well as most Folk, but i'm not going to deny that both fields have produced some amazing artists and albums (one's that i might even consider favorites... okay maybe not country for me, whatever).

Anypoo, i think indie-pop is too general a label to just dismiss considering just about anything Indie at this point can be considered indie-pop. When you throw two terms together with such vast meanings, it only makes that genre-tag exponentially more convoluted in its scope. Let's just say you like Frightened Rabbit and LiberalKid doesn't.

I also tend not to like FR too much, though i admit they're a good band, i much prefer the Twilight Sad because of the layers of distortion. Does that mean i like studio-trickery? Maybe, but i also like the vocals and drum-patterns better (go U2 stadium-sized arena-rock filtered through Shoegaze).

Goodbye. Try not to be too harsh.

I'd like to point out that when I said I was over indie rock/pop or w/e, it was more a personal statement relating to how I wasn't obsessed with the genre anymore. Illustrated by when I said I only listened to it if it was really good. I'm not blowing off the whole genre, I just have rather high standards for it.

Furthermore I highly doubt it would have elicited the same reaction from you gravel if I had said that I didn't like hip-hop, when hip-hop has arguably made just as many contributions if not more to music, than indie rock.

Finally:
http://www.fstdt.com/funnyimages/uploads/68.jpg

quote:

Originally posted by BlackGravel:
It's not sincere, it's not based on knowledge or experience or insight; it's just nonsense people drool out for no good reason at all.

You have something on your chin.

I think it might be several paragraphs of drool.

Hey, I'm calling it how I see it BlackGravel. Admittedly, I haven't spent solid weeks hovering over this album to know exactly how I'd describe it. I don't have to review to the album and I'm not getting paid to be right. I'm just giving you my impressions of it after a few good listens while driving in my car. If you don't see some of the wide-eyed tendencies of Incubus in there at least a little bit, I'd have to say you're wrong. Do I hate the album? No. Will I listen to again to get a better sense of it? Probably not any more. You've possibly spoiled it for me.

I gotta tell ya - this is one of the tamest picture-flamings I've ever seen.

I doubt if I'd like FR any less or more with a layer of JMC or MBV distortion. Here's an explanatory example:

I like the Legends as much as Frightened Rabbit because their songs are as good (sometimes slightly better). They have voice-manipulating nonsense (I think even vocoder like Cher) and their guitars fuzz around and burn like any number of shoegazin' bands.

But they are ALSO awesome. See that distinction? Notes, rhythms, lyrics. That is the way music should be judged. And generally, it is! Which is good. Am I supposed to take emphasis off that assertion because it's my opinion? That would be downright dishonest. It's my opinion that this is fact RATHER than opinion, and it's my civic responsibility to put forward THAT opinion (because it's correct!).

I can imagine all the insecure heads bristling and quaking at something like that -

"What will become of my weak and unsubstantiated opinions in a world where opinions are not held up as holy for no reason? I'm so afraid!"

Some people somewhere along the line got confused, thinking that the first amendment was so sacred that we had to apply it to conversations about music with nothing at stake. I firmly believe in a fascist approach to these kinds of debates. If your opinion has the power and the resources -- if it has the firepower necessary to rule, then so be it. All others be wise and fall back - retreat to the underground, organize a rebellion.

Anyway. Sometimes, as I've said fifty or more times, the production or the tone of an instrument can add to a song. It can add atmosphere, or hint toward a kind of feeling. Cases like these emphasize the positive side of the tendency to sculpt and adorn the notes and rhythms and lyrics a band comes up with. It very rarely makes a big difference. It NEVER makes an album good all on its own.

Goathouse, you tempt the higher powers comparing Frightened Rabbit to Incubus. It's not just offensive, it's cosmically incorrect and ridiculous. Stop it. (CAROLINE SPINE?)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BlackGravel,