:: Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

Frightened Rabbit

I’m not sure any album in history has frustrated me as much as Scottish band Frightened Rabbit’s third album, ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’ has. See, you can just tell that someone in there, there is actually a good band trying to break out, but for the most part of this album lead singer Scott Hutchison’s vocals are just plain annoying. Opening track ‘Things’ sounds great instrumentally but Hutchison’s vocals are a massive put off, and then when he does get himself into gear on ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ the song is so damn repetitive that you very quickly lose interest. It takes until the third track, ‘The Loneliness And The Scream’ for the listener to actually sit back and think ‘ah… I like this.’ ‘The Wrestler’ sees good use of melody while the experimental ‘Skip The Youth’ is well worth a listen. The album really takes a turn for the better with the faster pace of ‘Nothing Like You’ but then ‘Footshooter’ just reminds you of how many songs on this album simply sound the same. Once again Frightened Rabbit take a turn to the experimental on ‘Not Miserable’ and again it pays off for them… this time with what turns out to be easily the best track on the album. Hutchison also steps right up on ‘Living In Colour’, a track where his vocals actually sound exceptional, the same can also be said for ‘Yes, I Would.’ But then unfortunately he ends the album on a sour note with ‘Learned Your Name’ where he seems to be trying to reach notes that just don’t suit him. Seasoned fans of Frightened Rabbit will tolerate ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’, but I certainly can’t see it winning over any new fans.