6/14 – White Rabbits @ Emos

Fresh off the release of their It’s Frightening, White Rabbits returned to Austin, riding the wave of praise heaped upon them by various media outlets, ATH included. We ventured to Emos salivating at the chance to hear “Percussion Gun” live, as that clearly is one of our songs of the year. Local Austin band The Boxing Lesson opened up the evening, but they were practically done with their space-electronica when we made it into an empty indoor Emos. Follow the jump to read the full review.

Luckily, we were able to catch the entire set of Brooklyn’s The Subjects. This band was probably one of the joys of the evening as they astonished us with their energy and tunes. In our discussion of the band, we saw them as a three -pronged monster. They utilized multiple part harmonies much as you find in Fleet Foxes; they replicate the energy of Dr. Dog; they ooze the flavor of Blitzen Trapper. All in all, we found ourselves rocking out to a band we barely knew. It’s always a pleasure to come across a great unknown opener, and here we were given such a treat.

And all too quickly, before we had even settled into the evening, White Rabbits took to the stage. They opened the evening with “Rudie Fails,” one of the newer songs in their repertoire. Oddly, you can really feel the presence of Britt Daniel in the new songs, especially when they are performed live. It’s as if the ghost of Spoon was hanging about the rafters, which is partly true as we saw Mr. Eno in the room. Really though, it’s the way some of the newer songs are constructed, with he rhythm section providing the key elements to the song, where as the guitars merely seem to flesh everything else out. But, as the set went on, you could see the band hitting everything in stride as they went back and forth between old tunes and recent releases.

Clearly the band has taken time to flesh out their live stage show. Every instant to catch a groove from the music was seized upon by every single member of the band, which carried out into the audience. Each time they hammered away at their guitars or drums or piano, we stomped our feet in support, flailing about. Still, it all seemed to built frantically to the expected finale, which was sure to be “Percussion Gun.”

And then it came, as the multi-instrumentalist began to pound on the excess drums in unison, you couldn’t help but be drawn in to the craftwork of the song itself. Lyrics soared over the room, and the pounding of the drums echoed in the cavernous room. And then it ended. As quickly as the show began, the show was over, a mere 42 minutes after they began. Sure, they came back out for an encore, but the set seemed to blow right by us.  Still, White Rabbits left an impression upon us, and their energized set guaranteed it was a good impression.