A few months ago, I wrote about the increasing influence of Mumford & Sons and how that band’s brand of bleeding-heart folk-rock represents the convergence of certain indie trends (howling Avett Brothers roots rock, bookish Decemberists folk-prog, humongous Arcade Fire stadium anthems, woodsy Fleet Foxes classic rock worship) ...

On last night’s episode of Conan, the Scottish band Frightened Rabbit did musical-guest duty, playing their sad-bastard anthem “The Woodpile” about as hard as a song like that can be played. The band brought so many guitars with them and, in the process, did admirable work translating the song’s cathartic ...

I wrote a little bit about the new Frightened Rabbit album, Pedestrian Verse, prior to its release, and I praised it, because it’s a very good album. But experiencing the singles as they are released (so far: “State Hospital,” “Dead Now,” “The Woodpile,” and now “Bac...

Midweek update reveals Frightened Rabbit and Eels also set to crash into Top 10

Just yesterday, the Scottish band Frightened Rabbit released Pedestrian Verse, their fourth straight album of chest-beating emotional anthems. But the video they’ve released today isn’t for any of the album’s songs; it’s for “Today’s Cross,” the uncharacteristically rambunctio...