The Scottish vs. the Irish

Ah, so here we have the Scottish-

vs. the Irish-

Ok, so I have no factual proof that Neko is of Irish decent, but since she has probably the reddest head of hair I've seen, I'm going with this simplistic stereotype, until one of you can prove to me otherwise.

I own both of these albums, and I love them both. This is nearly an impossible task to choose one over the other. In fact I never thought about ranking one above the other before this match up was presented to me. Let me first talk about the the shared aspects I love about both these albums. 2. They both make for great listening on long road trips. 3. Both have jangly guitars here and there. 4. Neither album has many songs I consider filler material. 5. Drumming that is fairly conventional.

Now some might say that both of these bands are specialists at lyrical sportsmanship ,or just flat out professionals at lyrical B.S. Please don't consider me amongst that grouping though.

For me, my # 1 reason for enjoying both these bands is their songwriting that addresses and wrestles so well with the frailty of the human condition.

Consider these lyrics from Frightened Rabbit- The Twist

Let’s pretend I’m attractive and then

You won’t mind, you can twist for awhile

It’s the night I can be who you like

And I’ll quietly leave before it gets light

So twist and whisper the wrong name

I don’t care and nor do my ears

Twist yourself around me

I NEED company, I NEED human heat

I NEED human heat

and from Neko Case- Don't Forget Me

And when we’re older and full of cancer

It doesn’t matter now, come on get HAPPY

‘Cause nothing last forever

But I will always love you

Don’t forget me, please don’t forget me

Make it easy , only just for a little while

You know I think about you

Let me know you think about me too

Uplifting these lyrics they are not, but I really like their rawness and honesty. More of the same can be found on both of these albums. 

Now to some differences. On the whole, I suspect there is a significantly higher level of musicianship found on Neko Case's album than on Frightened Rabbit's. Neko shows impressive varied range both vocally and musically. Frightened Rabbit on the other hand, are very monotonous both in the straightforward guitars and pounding drums and vocals that sound so consistent from track to track, I almost wondered if it was for effect. Either way, these differences do nothing to make me prefer one band over the other.

Liking both albums so much, I was very conflicted, and at a real  loss as to which one to pass on through to the next round. I decided to look at the ungulates situated behind both of them in their photos above. Fortunately this transformed an otherwise impossible decision into a very easy one.

I would much rather go into battle with a moose, an eland, and a Thomson's gazelle than with a herd of Fallow deer.

Therefore, the Scottish defeat the Irish (American), and Frightened Rabbit advances to the next around along with their bad ass ungulate friends.