Listen to Frightened Rabbit at the Peak of Their Midnight Organ Fight Run

Did you know that Paste owns the world’s largest collection of live music recordings? It’s true! And what’s even crazier, it’s all free—hundreds of thousands of exclusive songs, concerts and videos that you can listen to and watch right here at Paste.com, from Louis Armstrong to The Who to U2 to Wilco. Every day, we’ll dig through the archive to find the coolest recording we have from that date in history. Search and enjoy!

Sometimes it’s good to take a shallower look back into our exclusive archives here at Paste. We’re didn’t even have to go 10 years deep before finding this exclusive stripped down session from Scottish folk rock band Frightened Rabbit recorded on this day at the Daytrotter Studio in Rock Island, Ill.

Over the course of their four-song set, Frightened Rabbit offered two choice cuts from their 2008 breakthrough recordThe Midnight Organ Fight, as well as two from their debut Sing the Greys. Although just five months after the release of The Midnight Organ Fight, Frightened Rabbit sounds completely confident in the new songs.

But what’s most striking about listening to this acoustic recording nearly a decade later is how relevant the songs still feel. “My Backwards Walk” serves as the perfect transition after “Be Less Rude” to illustrate the band’s transition from their scrappy roots.

Additionally, the heartbreaking “Poke” also makes an appearance in this set, even if frontman/songwriter Scott Hutchinson trades out a choice Scottish curse for something less potentially insulting to American listeners.

As a whole, the set seems to foreshadow the successful career Frightened Rabbit has enjoyed since—full of international tours, three additional LPs and, as of yesterday, a tease of new music. Check out the full session here.