frightened rabbit, spinto band, the chop @ the bottom of the hill
Sunday night, I caught Frightened Rabbit (myspace), Spinto Band (myspace), and the Chop (myspace) at the Bottom of the Hill. It was a second of two nights for Frightened Rabbit and Spinto–Half Handed Cloud, rather than the Chop, was on the bill the previous night.
Locals the Chop were on when I arrived. Their set of somewhat bluesy and classic-rock influenced rock was pretty high energy and well played, but I didn’t always find that material, like much of the music they were referencing, particularly engaging. The band, which has roots in Wilmington, brought up members of Delaware-based Spinto Band for their final song, a drinking song about Wilmington. That was pretty fun.
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Despite appearing in the headlining spot on the Bottom of the Hill calendar, Spinto Band was up next. They’re proponents of a pretty straight forward brand of indie pop that’s starting to get some attention. Some songs got my head bobbing and other didn’t. Their songs, at least in the two times I’ve seen them, are particularly inconsistent: one songs seems quite run-of-the-mill and the next is great.
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Frightened Rabbit was up last. I’ve sort of come around a bit on this band since I first heard them. On recordings, I wince slightly at the emotiveness of their pop. Live, though, there wasn’t any wincing or guilty pleasure feeling associated with my enjoyment. They played really well and Scott, the front man, is particularly engaging in that role. They put a lot of energy in, nail their parts, and put on a fun set. While no one will likely tell you that this music is particularly challenging or intellectual, the point of their set was to have a good time and I did.
What exactly constitutes a “challenging” or “intellectual” band? Is it that it defies convention in some way? That it’s inaccessible? That it has some abstract nature? Or some other measure?
Many would call Radiohead both intellectual and challenging, but many of their songs are melodic, anthemic, accessible, and wildly popular. Maybe calling something _really_ poppy (think Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera) a “guilty pleasure” makes sense, but a solid rock band that writes catchy emotive tunes? Please do explain.
Good questions, HAD. I would call something challenging if it defies convention or is somehow outside the realm of what one listens to. Intellectual music, which admittedly may not be the best word to use to describe what I mean, may be something that is not single layered–that what you find on the first listen is not most or all of what is in the music. Intellectual music requires further listening and thought to reveal the layers of the music, be it in melody, production, instrumentation or lyrics.
Something can certainly be intellectual and also walk the like between challenging and accessible. I think a lot of the best music embodies that.
I’d definitely agree with you that Frightened Rabbit are a solid rock band that writes catchy tunes. The guilt may in part be by association: between the emotive lyrics, anthemic music and brogues, I associate them with Snow Patrol which is more solidly in guilty pleasure territory.
In the end, musical taste is pretty arbitrary, so talking about “guilty” pleasures, I will admit, doesn’t mean much in the end.
Well that response was far too long. Thanks for the comment.
What you say makes sense – and I think it’s a definite fundamental characteristic of trying to find new and different music. The issue becomes a little hazy, though, when one starts not enjoying music simply because it’s too “easy”. Many, many fantastic bands are “easy”. The Beatles are probably the most striking example of a band that is at once easy and incredibly innovative. The Rolling Stones are another. In the end, it seems like maybe the best thing is to try and find a balanced line between the different pieces that come together and allow you to find new music that also pushes you a little bit.
Anyway…good points. We just had to ask since we <3 <3 <3 Frightened Rabbit to the t0ta7 m4X ;)
[...] weeks, one with which emotive indie rock goes particularly well. It’s no wonder, then, that I enjoyed Frightened Rabbit last weekend or that I’ve been listening to their newish live album quite a bit since [...]