White Rabbits – It’s Frightening (TBD)
My guess is that the Spoon comparisons would still be there even if Brit Daniel hadn’t produced It’s Frightening, White Rabbits‘ second full length. If you’re one of those that hate such easy associations, then you obviously haven’t heard the record yet; I invite you to come up with something better.
With pianos tacking in and out of the mix, quirky rhythms, and layers of mid-60s Beatle melodies, the origins are quite apparent and White Rabbits have made a blatant run for your attention with their sophomore release. It’s held inside an enjoyable 35-minute package, so you could do worse than giving the band a few glances for their newfound motivation.
It’s apparent that the band worked the songs from fragments of riffs and rhythms-not that there’s anything wrong with that-with the song structures and lyrics coming towards the end of the creative process. When this process doesn’t work, the songs don’t necessarily fail, they just fail to establish a lasting memory. A good example of this is the “Right Where They Left,” with its neat drum rhythms and sweet harmonies, everything sounds wonderfully executed during the track itself, but it’s sadly forgotten until the next time the song begins again.
When the process does work, it’s a joy. There are a handful of great tracks that will keep It’s Frightening on your current playlist. The records middle section-beginning with “Lionesse” and ending with “Midnight and I”-all show a band that’s grown exponentially from their debut and hint at something special coming; it will be nice to give this album a spin come a few more releases down the line just to see which elements within It’s Frightening the band decided to examine further.
It’s a good effort, maybe a notch or two above similarly forged bands and certainly worthy of the press that White Rabbits are receiving as of late. But to be brutally honest, they have chosen a very easy formula to work from and a very complimentary producer to work with. If you’re able to write a decent song, can maneuver around a few instruments, hone in on some memorable melodies and manage to capture it all on magnetic tape then you’re pretty much home free. In that context, White Rabbits have all but pulled into the driveway and are just about to get settled in to their new digs.