It's no secret that I fell head over heels for Frightened Rabbit this year, and The Midnight Organ Fight has been one of my favorite and most-listened-to albums of 2008. I got to see them for the first time at SXSW back in March, and then was thrilled to see them land in Nashville a few months later - they're just as fantastic live as they are on their album. Sadly, although they were just on tour with the Spinto Band, they wrapped up their leg of the tour just before Spinto Band hit Nashville - but I still have hope that they'll be in town again sometime soon.
In the meantime, the band has released a live album - Liver! Lung! FR! - that does an excellent job capturing what Frightened Rabbit sounds like on the stage. While Organ Fight isn't anything remotely nearing over-produced or excessively glossy, the live versions of the songs still have somewhat of an added quality - a touch of messiness, imperfection, the occasional feeling they're about to collapse. Much like the subject material of the songs, if you'd like to think about it that way. It's that humanity and vulnerability that I feel first captivated me about this collection of songs, and it's the reason I remember standing transfixed and exceptionally happy while watching them perform at Exit/In.
"The Twist"
"Head Rolls Off"
