Frightened Rabbit to thump across the U.S.

photo by Dave Gourley

The Glaswegian lads of Frightened Rabbit seem to have picked the perfect name to fit their appealing, cheeky rock 'n' roll. It's odd, but not off-puttingly so, and has that elusive cute/anxious quality—plus, it gets them into Paste's Field Guide to Animal Bands!

It's been a busy 2008 for the fledgling quartet. The second Frightened Rabbit full-length, The Midnight Organ Fight, landed on American shores in April, accompanied by an adorable video for "Heads Roll Off." It's set in a preschool, where a group of tiny children (making tiny changes?) bust some moves and occasionally look pensive (see, it's that cute/anxious thing; those Rabbits really have a handle on it).

The group is deftly straddling the divide between mainstream success and critical acceptance, fulfilling the promise of their first album, Sing The Greys, with the recent use of the Midnight Organ Fight song "Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms" in the background of a scene during Grey's Anatomy. Meanwhile, they've guest-edited a Single File Feature for PaperThinWalls.com, deconstructed their MySpace Top 8 for Jaded Insider (lead singer Scott Hutchison's take on the Twilight Sad: "Our favourite band on the planet, now and until the end of time. They are of course a set of absolute cocksuckers. You can't have everything."), and popped up on Paste senior contributing editor Andy Whitman's list of the Best Albums of the First Quarter of 2008.

The first (lucky) foot of the group's 2008 globetrot began in Europe in February/March; the trek's been documented in a six-part "On The Road With Frightened Rabbit" series over at YouTube. We recommend part 4, wherein Scott's brother Grant shreds some drums in a classy-looking Italian venue and the fellas get giggly at the afterparty while "teaching the locals essential phrases."

Soothe the skittish, Scottish bunnies on the band's upcoming U.S. tour:

May
24 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ M Room
26 - Allston, Mass. @ Great Scott
27 - New York, N.Y. @ Pianos
28 - Cleveland, Ohio @ Grog Shop*
29 - Chicago, Ill. @ Double Door*
30 - Madison, Wis. @ High Noon Saloon*
31 - Minneapolis, Minn. @ 400 Bar*

June
2 - Kansas City, Mo. @ Record Bar*
4 - Dallas, Texas @ Granada Theatre*
5 - Austin, Texas @ The Mohawk*
6 - Houston, Texas @ Walters*
7 - Baton Rouge, La. @ Spanish Moon*
9 - Birmingham, Ala. @ Bottletree*
10 - Nashville, Tenn. @ Exit/In*
11 - Columbus, Ohio @ The Basement*
14 - Omaha, Neb. @ The Waiting Room+
15 - Denver, Colo. @ Hi Dive+
18 - Seattle, Wash. @ Nectar+
19 - Portland, Ore. @ Holocene+
21 - San Francisco, Calif. @ The Independent+
22 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Roxy Theatre
23 - San Diego, Calif. @ Casbah+
24 - Phoenix, Ariz. @ Rhythm Room+
30 - Washington, D.C. @ Black Cat+