Frightened Rabbit / The Phantom Band
Dundee Fat Sam's (Wednesday 2nd December)
It’s testament to how the stock of these two outstanding acts continue to rise, as the ticket demand for tonight show has reached near fever pitch
, with excitement brimming on the faces of those in possession of their prized ticket and dismay on those who don’t, casting an envious glance at the rest.
The Phantom Band’s flawless Checkmate Savage album has seen them entrenched amongst Chemikal Underground’s legendary coterie, and as for our headliners, they continue to garner rave reviews and fans in high places, so it’s perhaps no surprise to see the sad sight of dejected fan after fan being turned away by sullen bouncers, with no ken of the fervour in which these kindle of Frabbit follower regard their heroes (no doubt ready to burrow a tunnel underneath just to catch a glimpse…)
It would be unfair of me to comment on As Tall As Lions as I only caught a fleeting glimpse of their jazz-funk overtones, playing what sounded suspiciously like ‘Moving on Up’ by Curtis Mayfield - so onwards to The Phantom Band, who kick things off in stirring and intensive fashion, it’s as if Fat Sam’s has suddenly taken the form of a ominously creaking Route 66 highway pit-stop with an unsettling score to match, as a dark and creeping deep bluesy Americana unfolds and resonates round the venue powered by throbbing bass that shakes you to your very core as we’re surrounded by swirling suggestive synths all put to mesmerizing effect and propelled forcefully forward by commanding yet intricate and exotic percussion.
To describe them using purely foreboding and dramatic tenor, would be to do them a disservice, as they eschew compartmentalising, having an extraordinary knack of melding psychedelic, avant-garde and esoteric influences with instantly accessible elements of indie-folk-rock, if not sharing a flirting glance with their trenchant pop sensibilities. ‘Folk Song Oblivion’ has an impressive bluesy swagger, while ‘Left Hand Wave’ and ‘Crocodile’ owes a great debt to our Teutonic Krautrock and Techno pioneers, with a sprinkle of Captain Beef Heart’s bedlam. No matter what chameleon-esque guise they take, one element remains constant - the bulwark of percussion that lies at The Phantom Band‘s core, proving to underpin the freeform psychedelic expression and experimentalism but never managing to hamper its spirit.
After a brief scurry back-stage to speak to the aforementioned, aloof chameleons, I end up catching a few moments of Frightened Rabbit thundering through a slew of Midnight Organ Fight’s familiar highlights (‘Modern Leper’-‘I Feel Better’-‘Old Old Fashioned’) from stage-left, but soon I’m inexorably drawn into the thronging masses due to the sheer energy and vehemence of the crowd.
The sight of a ebullient Scott Hutchinson decked out in flannel, seems to elicit a strong reaction from the female contingent amongst tonight’s Dundonian audience… with more than a few seemingly hankering after the Hutchison seed and gene-pool, although this is no one-man band, Scott’s bolstered by an ever-growing band of brothers and rack of expensive guitars and equipment, with every song sounding fleshed out and amped up a notch or two including the newly aired track ‘Nothing Like You’ and latest single ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ which goes down a storm.
It’s amazing to think that that this humble Selkirk quintet, that hold no rock-star pretentious; adept at creating contemplative compositions imbued with dark humour and emotions laid-bare have been embraced on both sides of the Atlantic and further a field. It could well be down to their self-deprecation disposition, universal themes and ability to write emotionally resonant songs without ever sounding maudlin or self-pitying, instead their Scottish character is ingrained in every track, trading clichéd affectations for a national authenticity that holds more in common with Tartan Special than Tartan Shortbread.
With this in mind the night draws to a close with the melancholic and raw relationship lament ‘Poke’ and as the crowd get evermore more raucous, were treated to a rousing rendition of ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ complete with it’s crude, ribald lyrics steeped in relatable social-realism - “You won’t find love in a, won’t find love in a hole…it takes more than F–king someone to keep yourself warm” is sung back with such fervour and spirit that it could almost pose as a post-modern, surrogate National Anthem for a more reflective and unified Nation, focusing on inner turmoil and temperament rather than pitched battles and causes of Auld Lang Syne.
more photos by Tara Chaloner on Flickr
Craig Harkness
