FROM NYC: To the UK, Columbia rock band on a roll

COLUMBIA, 3/4/10  (Beat Byte) --  On the overseas release of their second album, "It's Frightening," six piece Columbia, Missouri-born rock band White Rabbits is getting some heady play in the U.K. 

 

"White Rabbits thundered and crashed their way to the end of a European tour with a dramatic set at the ICA that had more in common with a herd of stampeding cattle than anything rabbit-like," said the Times of London in a review March 1.  "The six-man group hails originally from the University of Missouri in Columbia, but are now based in Brooklyn, New York, which has proved to be a suitable location for launching their highly percussive brand of indie rock into the world.  Here to promote their impressive second album, It’s Frightening, the band threw themselves into the performance with an intensity that was all-consuming." 

 

The new album, the band's second, "is by far the best release since before the Christmas slump and at only half an hour long leaves you wanting more," writes reviewer Leigh Sanders for the Daily Echo, a U.K. newspaper staple since 1888.  "A top album." 

 

"With their thumping new single 'Percussion Gun' doing exactly what it says on the tin, New York-based White Rabbits are rapidly adding to their fanbase and whipping them into feverish expectation over sophomore release, It’s Frightening," writes reviewer John Johnson for The List, Scotland's largest events and entertainment magazine. 

 

Johnson interviewed White Rabbits band member Greg Roberts, who says the band toured for two years with their first album, Fort Nightly, which Roberts said took the band nearly a year to complete.  A band in the tradition of Radiohead, Madness, and The Specials, Roberts describes White Rabbit's sound as "reggae, dub, ska [reggae sub-genres].  Just anything with interesting rhythms; Ethiopian, West African, girl group, R&B, rock, just something different."

 

And, of course, Columbia gets a big mention.  "The band itself came together in Columbia, Missouri, which is a university town," Roberts said.  "I had been playing in a punk band with Alex, and working at a record shop with Steve, and grew up with Matt and Jamie in St. Louis.  I've known Jamie since I was six years old, actually. We grew up on the same street.  Anyway, we had all either finished school or were simply ready for a change of pace, so we jumped in our van and drove East."