words and photos by Jonny Leather

The Frightened Rabbit show at Le Poisson Rouge on Monday night (2/2) was a very special performance. With blank setlists at their feet, the Scottish quartet gave fans complete control over what they'd play. That was pretty obvious when "Backwards Walk" was the first song chosen, to which singer Scott Hutchinson questioned, "You really wanna start with 'Backwards Walk'?" It was an odd choice, and would have worked better later on, but the choose-your-own-adventure style set brought out a really fun, relaxed mood with the band, which was a fair trade for the complete lack of flow with the set. Normally a bit more rambunctious live, the set was toned down and acoustic, giving an extra feeling of intimacy to a song like "Poke." The best moments of the night came late as the packed crowd began singing along, especially on "Modern Leper" and "Keep Yourself Warm." People really like to sing along when one of the words is 'fucking'.

The most amazing thing about the set, which Hutchinson pointed out midway was the lack of requests for ridiculous/ironic covers. No one yelled "Freebird" until Hutchinson pointed out that no one had. And even after that moment, the one real cover request was the National's "Fake Empire" which the band played despite Hutchinson's reaction that he didn't know all the words to the song.

For an encore they played a cover of N-Trance's "Set You Free," which is featured on the second volume of the Guilt By Association compilation series. Scott Hutchinson's emotional Scottish wail even made this UK dance song seem deeply infused with pain and sorrow, in that same great way that makes his own songs so moving.

Fat Cat labelmates Gregory and the Hawk opened. Impeccably cute Singer/songwriter Meredith Godreau's sweet adorable voice was so soft it often drowned beneath the subtle guitars of the duo, sucking the crowd into a deep lull.

Later this month Gregory and the Hawk are playing three shows with Swirlies. That includes February 27th at Mercury Lounge (a show Takka Takka is also playing). More LPR pictures and the FR setlist below...

Continue reading "Frightened Rabbit (acoustic) & Gregory and the Hawk @ (Le) Poisson Rouge, NYC - pics & setlist"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Swirlies - Chris R. (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Swirlies - Bell (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Swirlies - In Her Many New Found Freedom (MP3)

Veteran Boston dream pop band Swirlies will be playing their first shows in almost five years in February '09, including one at Mercury Lounge. Formed in 1990, Swirlies' "Chris R" was the opening track on the seminal 1992 indiepop compilation One Last Kiss that also featured Lilys, Magnetic Fields, Velocity Girl, Small Factory, Black Tambourine and more. Since then, they've released a string of swell 7" singles and albums, including 1993's Blonder Tongue Audio Baton and 1996's They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days in the Glittering World of the Salons. (Most of their records are available as free downloads from their website, by the way.) Few American bands have done the shoegazey thing as well as them.

They've also had nearly as many line-up changes as records, though singer-guitarist Damon Tutunjian and bassist Andy Bernick have remained constant throughout. They've never broken up, just taken a few extended sabaticals. The most recent version of Swirlies, which has been fairly constant since the late-'90s and whose last shows were with the Lilys in 2004, includes Rob Laakso (Diamond Nights, Mice Parade) who is also now in Amazing Baby. Hopefully these shows -- Philly, Boston and NYC -- will spur some new records as well.

What to expect? "I'm sure something will break, there will be lots of tuning breaks, we'll play too loud and I will consequently sing off key, and no one will remember how to play the songs," says Damon. "In other words, it should be business as usual. What better way to spend my spring break, right?"

Tickets for the February 27th Mercury Lounge show are now on American Express presale. They go on regular sale at noon. All dates below...

Continue reading "Swirlies are back again - 2009 tour dates, free albums "