Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks (2010)

Jeremy's review: The tendency is to compare this album to Frightened Rabbit’s last one, The Midnight Organ Fight. But since that album is so very good, such a comparison doesn’t fully do The Winter of Mixed Drinks justice. I think I like this album on its own merits (or is it just the echo of Organ Fight which it triggers in my mind and in my legs?). There are a few quieter moments, but in general the songs just never stop moving, which I love. Whether it’s the insistence of the guitars and drums, the rhythmic chanting of the background singing, or the earnest vocals, this album is compelling in the most literal sense of that word – it’s hard to stop listening. The first single, “Swim Until You Can’t See Land,” left me a little cold, mostly because the key lyric, “are you a man or a bag of sand?” reminded me too much of the 40-Year Old Virgin (is that a reference? Or do the Scots just not watch Judd Apatow movies?), but tracks like “The Loneliness and the Scream,” “Skip the Youth,” “Nothing Like You,” and “Living in Colour” have kept my toes and fingers tapping away uncontrollably, much to the consternation, I’m sure, of those around me trying to get work done.