Painting of a Panic Attack
Details
LP / Format
Canvasback, Atlantic / Label
Indie Rock / Genres
frightenedrabbit.com / Website
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CRITIC REVIEWS
85
Each track is filled with Frightened Rabbit’s usual poetically blunt explorations of the darker side of life. As much as they often retrace their thematic steps, they still find new, beguiling ways to do so.
85
Frightened Rabbit evolve the right way with this release, changing their sound, but not so much that they lose their trademark sound. This is still the Frightened Rabbit we all know and love, as gloomy as we last heard from them.
80
There is certainly the same sense of comfort and loneliness on Painting Of A Panic Attack that comes from visiting a memorial or monuments.
80
Despite the line-up changes, shifts in location and personal life traumas that have been played out on successive records over the past decade, the core and essence of the band remain the same, and it’s still as brilliant as it has ever been.
80
It’s a wonderful record, one to wrestle with, one that lingers at odd moments of the day and night. Allow it to seek you out.
80
Painting of a Panic Attack, like previous albums, can get a bit mired in wistful, midtempo soul searching, but it's by far the most immediate and inclusive collection of songs that the band has laid to tape to date.
75
Painting Of a Panic Attack, while not their best release musically, may well be their most emotionally mature.
75
Painting of a Panic Attack may sound bigger and thematically a little more mature, but any fans who were worried that happiness on the West Coast might change Hutchison’s relationship with his art can breathe a sigh of relief.
75
Dialing back the buoyancy and bombast of the celebrated trio of albums that preceded it, Frightened Rabbit turns to a more graceful sound on Painting Of A Panic Attack.
70
Painting of a Panic Attack is Frightened Rabbit dressed up as The National for Halloween. It’s a nice change, but still very much the band fans have come to love.
60
Throughout the record, the presence of The National’s Aaron Dessner can be felt through its bold instrumentation, while frontman Scott Hutchison once again steers his band in the sombre yet reflective direction that they’ve managed to navigate so well before.
60
Now that the band has vastly outgrown its origin as a vehicle for Hutchison’s enviable lyricism, those retreats back to an earlier status quo are that much more glaring.
60
With Aaron Dessner behind the boards, Painting of a Panic Attack is more a sensible repositioning than a reinvention.
60
Hutchinson still feels connected to his inner voice, a poet who’s mastered the art of the relatable sad-sack, though in Painting it takes more of an effort to take his hand and pull him up from the mud.
45
The incorporation of frontman Scott Hutchison's verses of cagey lament and realization into Dessner's poignant pop arrangements feels contrived rather than meant to be.
Painting of a Panic Attack is by far the dreariest and bleakest music Frightened Rabbit have ever released yet easily the most cohesive and enjoyable. The record’s genius lies in its seemingly copy and pasted heartbreak formula when first glancing at the track titles only to throw an absolute curveball with introspective and equally depressing songs.
A lot of the tracks on this album are much slower and more somber than anything Frightened Rabbit have ever committed to record before, ... read more
A lot of the tracks on this album are much slower and more somber than anything Frightened Rabbit have ever committed to record before, ... read more
An admirable attempt at a stirring emotional arousal through dark themes and riveting instrumental escalation. However, whatever promise each song begins with quickly dismantles into a haunting alt-rock cliche. Instead of creating a truly unique, isolated mood, "Painting of a Panic Attack" paints the same picture as all the other alt-rock bands, albeit with a black and grey brush.
Notable Songs: "Death Dream"; "Die Like a Rich Boy"; "A Lick of Paint"
Notable Songs: "Death Dream"; "Die Like a Rich Boy"; "A Lick of Paint"
This is an album that you really have to listen to several times before you start to appreciate it. Please don't rate it on first or second go-around. This is a great record, but the funny part is, it isn't their best, by far. Still, the song writing is great.
Notable Songs: "I Wish I Was Sober", "Woke Up Hurting", "An Otherwise Disappointing Life", "Break", "Lump Street".
Notable Songs: "I Wish I Was Sober", "Woke Up Hurting", "An Otherwise Disappointing Life", "Break", "Lump Street".
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Year End Lists
| #11 | / | GIGsoup |
| #30 | / | Fopp |
| #35 | / | LA Music Blog |
| #37 | / | The Line of Best Fit |
| #37 | / | The Skinny |
| #85 | / | Under the Radar |
Track List
- Death Dream
- Get Out
- I Wish I Was Sober
- Woke Up Hurting
- Little Drum
- Still Want to Be Here
- An Otherwise Disappointing Life
- Break
- Blood Under the Bridge
- 400 Bones
- Lump Street
- Die Like a Rich Boy
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Added on: February 19, 2016