Better with each listen
I had been telling people that this album sounded like "Scottish folk-pop". I have no idea what that means, really, but it sounded good. After a few more listens, it turns out that there is so much more to this album that some dumb made-up music genre.

One example:
"Fast Blood" seems simple enough: Four chords, Coldplay-like vocals leading into a really catchy chorus. "I get it", you might say at first, but the subtleties are caught in subsequent listens. The intro: the rest of the band is actually brought in on the second chord of the progression, giving an off-centered feel right away, as if they are catching up to the guitar. The second verse changes the feel of the song when the drummer switches to the high hat, a change emphasized by more straight-forward guitar strumming as well. These subtle transpositions turn these his good pop melodies into great songs. These song-shifting elements could have been left out in an attempt to dumb-down the songs for a wider audience. Man, I am glad they did not do that.

The most inconsistent part of the album is the lyrics. Although I personally find some moments of lyrical brilliance. "I Feel Better" finds him trying desperately to convince us (and himself) that this the it last song he will write about a past lover. However, the listener gets it and is unconvinced.

Overall: Well done. Highly recommended.

Great stuff
I happened across this band after hearing "Old, Old Fashioned" on the radio as I was flipping stations. That song caught my ear and had me tapping away to it. Its one of those tunes that sticks in your head long after hearing it, so I looked it up. I hadn't heard of these guys before, but I took a chance, bought the cd and I'm glad I did. It's great. Real stuff, not studio crap. It's a cd I'll play anytime, hanging with friends, chillin by myself, driving around, whatever. Old fashioned is a good way to describe the style of music - good songwriting, songs us regular joes can relate to, fun to listen to, some curse words, but just honest stuff. Talented rabbits they are.

goosebumps
just listen to a song or two... The Modern Leper... or Keep Yourself Warm... something about the yearning, painful, yet maybe hopeful delivery of Scott Hutchison's vocals just give me goosebumps... i've realized that his voice reminds me of Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows, except that I can't stand the Counting Crows... and I can't get enough of this.

What would it sound like if Snow Patrol had a set of brass ones?
I just finished listening to this for the second time in a row, and I am going to play it again. Passionate, heartbreaking lyrics, driving walls of percussion and guitar. Really damn good. And his Scottish accent makes the songs sound even more bloody, like the wounds are still raw.

I Need Human Heat
This album is very good. "I need Human Heat" is a line from the song "The Twist," by the way.

Here's the formula--take Death Cab for Cutie's percussion and penchant for plumbing the depths of heartbreak, mix in liberal amounts of John Darnielle's hard-driving acoustic guitar and candid lyrics as lead singer of The Mountain Goats, and add a pinch of The Promise Ring, particularly Davey von Bohlen's voice, and you are approaching Frightened Rabbit's sound.

This is a great album. These Scottish brothers face up to the difficulties and injustices of life and love, but they do so in their own way: Defiantly, instead of defeatedly a'la Bright Eyes and Elliot Smith, for examples. Don't get me wrong--I like Bright Eyes and Elliot Smith, but sometimes you want to go where they choose to explode instead of implode.

By the way, listen to Backwards Walk and tell me it is not destined for an episode of Grey's Anatomy.