White Rabbits Leap To Head Of Pack

by | Sep 20, 2007

Heather Browne wrote about a number of bands at Monolith Festival–Brian Jonestown Massacre, Art Brut, Earl Greyhound, Spoon, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Kings of Leon, Hot IQs, etc. She also has some nice things to say about White Rabbits.

We saw these guys on Saturday afternoon on the indoor WOXY.com stage with about 12,482 people all crammed into a very small space. It was hot and I couldn’t get any pictures worth crap. But I loved the sounds emanating from the White Rabbits. The band had a disproprotionately high number of short guys wearing dapper suits in it, and I thought that it was fronted by Fred Savage at first, which was awesome.

Thankfully, I got to see this group at SXSW in Austin last March. NME called White Rabbits the third best band at South By last spring. Pretty high praise. Maybe third best “emerging” band. Whatever the case, I’m listening to Fort Nightly, the debut record from White Rabbits for the first time today.

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Obscure Sound says this ska-influenced indie release “will most likely be considered as one of the breakthrough debuts of 2007.”

Pitchfork also likes the record.

The NYC six-piece writes great songs that merge rhythmic intensity with grandiose melodrama in a seamless and inventive package.

White Rabbits moved from Columbia, MO to a shared living/performance loft space in Brooklyn last year. Say Hey Records CEO Aaron Romanello saw the band perform when they first moved to New York. He signed them and hooked them up with producer Chris Zane (Shy Child, Asobi Seksu, Les Savy Fav).