The live album, like the greatest hits collection, is usually a quick way to cash-in or ride out a contract. Owe your label one last album, but are locked in arguments with your bandmates, imprisoned by writer's block, or don't want to waste your great new material on them? Just record from the sound board one night at the club, and-- presto!-- you've fulfilled your obligations. Luckily Glasgow's Frightened Rabbit are one of the few bands that earn such an indulgence. They have proven, in the course of their brief career, that they are definitely not slackers; their first two albums, Sing the Greys and Midnight Organ Fight, were released within a year of each other. And though Lung! Liver! FR!, which was recorded at a hometown gig in July, includes neither new songs nor any track from their charming 2007 debut, it succeeds at stripping down and speeding up Organ Fight's songs, closing the gap between the band's more mannered studio image and their sweaty, raw live one.
On their studio albums, Frightened Rabbit's charismatic, bass-free folk rock is sadly scathing but always pleasantly rousing, and their catchy acoustic melodies soften the jagged edges of their songs. They express their aggression instead through the frisson in their acoustic and electric guitar interplay. Live, however, the lyrical bitterness is unadorned, the electric guitars mostly ignored. James Graham from the Twilight Sad joins the band to sing "Keep Yourself Warm", and when he wails "It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm," there is a desperation in his quivering voice. Though the arrangements haven't changed much-- sacred/sad organs still whirr in the background, but instead of the fuzzy, belligerent embrace of a crashing electric guitar, an acoustic thrums with insistent melancholy-- the overall feeling is more urgent. And though lines like "Jesus is just a Spanish boy's name/ How come one man got so much fame?" (from "Heads Roll Off") always had a provocative power, bled of the original's rocking guitar chug, the audible catch in singer Scott Hutchison's throat makes him sound more sorrowful than smart-assy.
The drumming of Grant Hutchison (Scott's brother) is a throbbing, muscular base, but live, the rich thump of his kick drum has a surprising musicality. On some tracks you can hear just how hard he plays, and on others he offers nuance that gooses the emotion in his brother's carpal tunnel-inducing strum. Billy Kennedy's keyboard parts, used in the studio to fill out the rhythm section, have added importance here, whether taking on the guise of a hollow synthesizer, an ethereal organ, or a mournful piano. Stripped of their guitar jangle, these songs are left with their exposed nerves, aching delivery, and rhythmic heaviness, which makes the keys a welcome melodic guide through this collection.
Though there is a newfound vitality to the live incarnations of these tracks, many may wonder what is the point of basically re-buying Midnight Organ Fight with added cheering-crowd sounds. The hope is that, for fans, this album imbues added depth to the familiar songs, bringing out their bruised sentiment and illustrating Frightened Rabbit's power as a live band. (Although Ross Cook's mandolin on "Old Old Fashioned" lends this album the air of a local hootenanny.) But for those who missed Frightened Rabbit's last record, those who weren't already enthralled by these tuneful Scots, this album will really come alive. After all, for those listeners, these 12 tracks are new and, therefore, essential.
