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MySpace: White Rabbits

Judging by the increasingly ridiculous series of analogies that have been making up the New York five-piece White Rabbits reviews lately (‘Imagine the love-child of James Mercer and Matt Berninger in bed with Ezra Kroenig crossed with Cold War Kids in a lift with Spoon performing covers of Belle & Sebastian while jamming with Arcade Fire…’), their latest single, ‘Percussion Gun, could have gone one of two ways.

It could have been an unfortunate, deformed inbred child, with six fingers, eight toes and a regrettable surplus of limbs, or it could have been a glossy, sleekly formulaic affair, like a perfectly bred racehorse or red setter – and luckily for White Rabbits, ‘Percussion Gun’ falls squarely into the latter category.

‘Percussion Gun’ is as thunderous as it’s namesake –set against the backdrop of relentless, pounded drums, courtesy of White Rabbit’s two – yes, two – drummers, and with the kind of murky, darkly throbbing guitar line and stabbing piano that gave The White Stripes their sex appeal; ‘Percussion Gun’ seems to herald a departure from the preppy indie-pop However, ‘Percussion Gun’s main draw is vocalist Stephen Patterson – who’s seemingly permanent state of acute vocal distress throughout ‘Percussion Gun’ contrasts exhilaratingly with the lazy, drawled vocals preferred by most prominent indie bands. ‘Percussion Gun’s most electrifying moment even comes courtesy of Patterson – on the song’s chorus, when Patterson’s voice teeters, tantalizingly on the edge of falsetto, before breaking into an agonised scream.

Anyone who has been following White Rabbit’s career since their debut ‘Fort Nightly’ can’t deny that ‘Percussion Gun’ seems to mark a departure of sorts for the band – no longer are White Rabbits peddling the kind of brassy, self-aware quirkiness that made Vampire Weekend’s name – ‘Percussion Gun’ is deliciously dark – so much so, it feels like an illicit pleasure, as though a track you’d feel slightly dirty listening to on the bus. Patterson’s cries of ‘I know which way you run!’ have the same kind of stalker vibe favoured by some of indie rock’s heavyweights – simultaneously recalling Josh Grier of Tapes ‘n Tapes moans of ‘I’ll be had if I’m in your dress tonight’ on ‘Insistor’ and Yoni Wolf of Why’s refrain of ‘Stalker’s my whole style, and if I get caught I’ll deny, deny, deny’.

On ‘Percussion Gun’, White Rabbits have proved themselves worthy of the hype and more – a jaw-droppingly rare occasion for a genre prone the hyperbolism like no other – and to end with the same kind of outlandish analogy I previously mocked – ‘Percussion Gun’ encapsulates the bluesy urgency of The White Stripes, the tribal, hell-bent drumming of Wildbirds & Peacedrums, and The xx’s cagey yearnings. Inbred indeed. Album, It’s Frightening, is available now.

8/10

By Kat Rodgers