Tuesday's Recommended Release

The White Rabbits have only been around for two albums, but somehow they have gotten themselves associated with some of the indie world's biggest stars. After releasing their debut album, 2007's mostly underrated Fort Nightly, the band got so many reviews comparing them to The Walkmen that they eventually wound up touring with the band. Now for their sophomore follow-up, It's Frightening, most of the early talk has centered around the choice of having Spoon's Britt Daniel produce the record. It almost seemed like a coup for the White Rabbits to snag Daniel for his first non-Spoon producing credit, and almost every bit of early press has compared the sound of the album to Spoon's own recorded output.

At times that's a fair criticism of It's Frightening. The band has shifted a lot of the focus of their music, pushing Stephen Patterson's vocals to the front of the mix and allowing guitar to take a bigger role in the overall sound, but a lot of what we enjoyed on Fort Nightly is still intact. Most notably the percussion remains as dominant (if not more so) as ever. Opening with "Percussion Gun", White Rabbits immediately greet you with a non-stop, rhythm heavy tune. The band's two drummers dominate the song and the band adds in more percussion with some clapping as well. It's Frightening is controlled by the steady rhythms of the band, much the same as Fort Nightly was, but they have also improved in a lot of ways with catchier hooks, better writing, and an ability to turn a darker tune into a rocking one.

Still as much as this is a White Rabbits album the fingerprints of Britt Daniel are everywhere. "They Done Wrong/We Done Wrong" is specifically indicative of the Spoon influence with a stripped down feel, a rougher guitar sound, and the focused percussion of the two drummers driving the song, the only thing missing is Daniel's vocals thought Stephen Patterson definitely does an admirable job delivering the tunes himself.

For most of It's Frightening the White Rabbits work to blend the influence of its producer with their own musical makeup and they do a pretty damn good job of doing it. In fact the added influence of Daniel drives this to loftier heights then they had aspired to on Fort Nightly. The album may be a bit darker and a little slower then what the band introduced us to on the debut, but it's definitely deeper and better thought out then ever before. This is a stellar record and it's definitely worthy of your attention.
White Rabbits - "Percussion Gun"
White Rabbits - "Midnight and I"