Artist Tue Nov 10 2009

White Rabbits Aren't Frightened

Every once in a while a band will lay on your radar for a while, popping up here and there on music sites and local venue bookings, and maybe a friend tells you you should check them out, but then suddenly you realize why they haven't faded away, why they weren't just a blip on the blog circuit. Having even seen White Rabbits this summer at Do Division street fest, I knew they were a great band with incredible energy on stage; even the intense light show in the video for "Percussion Gun" had me stunned, but it wasn't until I heard their newest album, It's Frightening, that it was clear that this band stands head and shoulders above most everything else around right now.

The group originally hails from Columbia, Missouri, Stephen Patterson and Gregory Roberts having met there at The University of Missouri. They moved on to Brooklyn in 2005 with high ambitions that so far appear to be paying off. Spoon's Britt Daniel obviously saw something special in them too, as he came on to produce the followup to their Fort Nightly debut. The Spoon-pop influence is hard to hide on It's Frightening, but White Rabbits take it in their own dark direction with an aptly named album. Although you can characterize their brand of indie-pop as dark, that doesn't mean that verses and chorus wont hook you and draw you in. From intense drum thumping on "Percussion Gun" to endearing guitar strumming on "Company I Keep," this is one album you can bet you'll see popping up on those 'best of '09' lists in the coming months.

White Rabbits are in town this week with The Walkmen for two shows--at Schubas on the 11th and at Lincoln Hall on the 12th. The Lincoln Hall show is already sold out, but a few tickets still remain for the Schubas show. (Both shows are now sold out.) You can also download free tracks from sessions they did for Daytrotter and MySpace Transmissions to hold you off in the mean time.

Wednesday, November 11 @ Schubas. 3159 N. Southport. Show starts at 9pm. 21 &up. Tickets are $20.

Thursday, November 12 @ Lincoln Hall. 2424 N. Lincoln Ave. Show starts at 9pm. 21 & up. Sold Out.

— Michelle Meywes / Comments (0)