Frightened Rabbit are in the middle of a UK tour supporting Gomez and next month they will support Modest Mouse in Ireland. It has been a great year for the band which included an apperance at the first Scottish Royal Variety Performance. Ticket details for the shows in Galway, Cork and Dublin are below.
Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison spoke with the Village Voice in New York last year about playing in America and his feelings about the NME:
I know you’ve had more people at your shows in the US this time around. But in general, how would you compare the personalities of the audiences in the UK versus here in the States.
People here are more intimate. I mean, we’re more popular here then we are over there. Also there’s something about a Scottish band playing in Scotland–that’s not really that much of a novelty… But to give the American audiences credit, I think they just make their own minds up about music. The UK is governed by one or two shit publications.
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Like NME?
Yup, the NME‘s the one. And you know, no matter what anyone says about Pitchfork, it’s not nearly as evil as that magazine. So I think [American audiences] are more open. Jokes sound funnier to them as well.
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[laughs]
No one laughs at my jokes in the UK.
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I watched a recent interview where you said that the bands that you listen to aren’t covered in the NME? So who are the bands you listen to?
Wilco, TV on the Radio–maybe at one point have [been covered]. I can’t stand the NME because they’re so fucking full of shit. What else have I listened to? Actually, I listen to Crystal Castles these days. I didn’t want to like them, but I do. I love Ryan Adams–he just doesn’t get in the NME. Band of Horses.
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Does the NME give much coverage to Scottish bands? Do they cover The Twilight Sad?
No, never. They’ve actually had even less exposure than us. Our album got a review in it. The fucked-up thing about the review, and this just increased my hatred, the reviewer gave it a nine out of ten–I know because I met him–but they ended up giving us an eight because they didn’t think we were an NME -type band. And they still do, but that was not the original review.
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So they didn’t change the review itself?
It was exactly the same; they just changed the grade. That’s what I mean… it’s a fucking rag. I tend to judge papers by how many shits it takes you to read through them. I think with NME, for what it’s worth, is a one-shit paper. After one shit, you’re like, “Alright, I’ve seen enough of this.”
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Excerpt from Village Voice article, Oct. 14 2008, by John S.W. MacDonald
Full details of Frightened Rabbit’s UK tour, including dates in Fort William, Stirling, Inverness, Aberdeen and Dundee at www.myspace.com/frightenedrabbit.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qtfa1SRWIM
Photo Credit : D N Anderson
Video Credit : The brilliant Peenko