Originally Posted by bz2911

I must interject after reading some of the comments posted in the past few days. To begin, I must agree that "Things" is a great song, but only in it's ability to set the tone for the rest of the album. To claim that it is "the gem of this record" provides evidence that you either: gave the album a once or twice over and were not happy that Mixed Drinks was not Organ Fight or you have completely missed the intentions of the band to progress from Organ Fight.

Secondly, KEB182 claims that, what you may think is bubble gum bullshit, "Swim..." is a declaration that they have progressed from a sort of sad Scottish quartet to an all around great alternative rock band. To this declaration, I must agree.

As the song progresses, it moves in an airy yet aquatic hum, and is not so much a “day-dream lullaby”. The song is an obvious metaphor to evaluate where Scott Hutchinson is willing to take his life and his future. Swimming from his past (i.e. the ex-girlfriend mentioned numerous times on Organ Fight, and the previous album, itself), as stated in the quote, “Let’s call me a Baptist, Call this a drowning of the past. She is there on the shoreline throwing stones, at my back. So swim until you can’t see land. Are you a man, are you a bag of sand?” is a concrete statement of progression, both emotionally and professionally.

The song may not be the best they’ve ever written; that is only to be left up to personal opinion. However, it absurd to claim that it is a “formulaic” song that should be used for radio prostitution. Read between the lines, and maybe “you’ll be surprised at what you find.”

Thirdly, I see absolutely no correlation between FRabbit and MGMT. MGMT is a pop-electro band with acid-driven lyrics, and trippy synthesizers. Not to mention, they would never have had the success they got in 2008, without producer Dave Freidman. If you haven’t heard of this producer, than your musical “integrity” must be brought into question. He was not a part of Congratulations, which has had far inferior success, despite their “apologies” to their fans.

Modest Mouse, however, is a band that I have been listening to for quite sometime. If you want to talk about band’s selling out, than “We’ve Got Everything” would not be the song to have done that with Modest Mouse. I believe that would be “Float On”. Again, I believe your musical “integrity” must be brought into question for that quip.

Finally, having read many hateful reviews and many positive reviews on Mixed Drinks, your opinions clearly seem to parallel themselves with those of Pitchfork. Having been notoriously critical of all progressions from first albums, such as Midnight Organ Fight. You seem to be one of those people who just do not like progression from, what may be thought of as, the ”original sound.”

As fans of FRabbit, we can all agree that Organ Fight seized our immediate attention, and as a fan of music, I truly fell in love after one or two times through the album. Yet, Mixed Drinks is a much deeper album, with much higher quality than the lo-fi, basement-recorded, post break-up effort that was Organ Fight. So do yourself a favor, and shut the fuck up.

Although I appreciate what you're trying to say, I have to whole-heartedly disagree with the statement that it's a much deeper album. For me, they lost everything that was deep and meaningful about Midnight Organ Fight. I was promised a more uplifting album, which I was so excited about. I've heard songs like "Yes, I Know" a thousand times and they're a bands attempt to get epic and I can see exactly why they did but it's boring and not what they do best.
Also, does he get the irony of "Not Miserable"???

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna stop being a douche on the internet bitching about how differently we perceive music, go outside and live my life...

Peace, and I still think "Swim" is boring and over-rated.

Yay. I win twice.