• Record Label: Atlantic
  • Release Date: Feb 5, 2013
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 30
  2. Negative: 0 out of 30
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  1. Feb 5, 2013
    100
    Hutchison falls in with another proud Scottish tradition: the ability to make the gloomy anthemic.
  2. Alternative Press
    Jan 28, 2013
    90
    Ambitious but understated, intelligent but immediate, Pedestrian Verse is simultaneously heartbreaking and life affirming--and anything but pedestrian. [Mar 2013, p.90]
  3. Jul 15, 2013
    80
    It’s intense and contradictory, a bundle of bravado and doubt and vulnerability and longing that stays with you for a long time after the last chorus fades.
  4. Kerrang!
    Feb 26, 2013
    80
    This is an album full of stirring, stadium-sized melodies. [2 Feb 2013, p.53]
  5. 80
    Pedestrian Verse sees Frightened Rabbit make a triumphant return to the magnificent songwriting present on their lauded second album, The Midnight Organ Fight.
  6. Q Magazine
    Feb 8, 2013
    80
    [The band] hasn't compromised the pitiless bleakness of Scott Hutchison's lyrical vision from their previous output. [Mar 2013, p.99]
  7. Feb 8, 2013
    80
    The songwriting is the driving force behind the album, and any reservations about whether or not Frightened Rabbit would transform into radio-friendly M.O.R. are swept away.
  8. Feb 6, 2013
    80
    From Hutchison's newfound enthusiasm for life to the band's stadium sound, Frightened Rabbit has finally created a reasonable glimmer of hope--sans blind optimism, of course.
  9. Feb 5, 2013
    80
    It strikes a perfect balance between the emotional rack-drawing that's made them beloved to many an indie misanthrope and the warmth and hope that makes them better than mere scab-pickers, just as it offsets their talent for unashamed anthems with dark and gnarly little details. It's a beautifully layered construction.
  10. Take note, Mr Paltrow: this is how you do life-affirming.
  11. Feb 4, 2013
    80
    Here, finally, is a Frightened Rabbit for all seasons: warm, buzzy tracks intersect with quieter, calmer numbers, and a few touches of the old acidic sadness, all tied together into a multi-dimensional package.
  12. Feb 4, 2013
    80
    This lack of ego lends a refreshing air to an album which is self-assured, charismatic and quite simply brilliant.
  13. From the self-mockingly banal title onwards, it confirms them as that rare thing: a band able to combine grandiosity and groundedness.
  14. Jan 31, 2013
    80
    The result is a collection of stirring, instant anthems to get fists pumping the air and swaying crowds singing along.
  15. Jan 29, 2013
    80
    There are still places to go, but this is an early contender for album of the year.
  16. Jan 28, 2013
    80
    Throughout, the lyrical clarity and emotional honesty of the band shine through, creating an album that is as much uplifting as it is in parts bleak.
  17. Under The Radar
    Jan 28, 2013
    80
    It's a truly dynamic set of recordings. [Jan-Feb 2013, p.87]
  18. Feb 5, 2013
    77
    While Pedestrian Verse feels like the most comprehensive Frightened Rabbit LP in the band’s nearly 10-year career, it also forgoes some of the band’s restless charm in the process.
  19. Feb 7, 2013
    76
    The precise ecstasy of the production buoys the record through its few sluggish patches.
  20. Feb 12, 2013
    75
    The Scottish outfit have delivered again with jangly pop full of skittering guitars, self-flagellating lyricism, and whimsy under a pall of darkness that no amount of the big spotlight can dispel.
  21. Feb 6, 2013
    70
    Frightened Rabbit's best material rivals brothers-in-brood the National and Arcade Fire, and even their B-level stuff is better than that of most acts working in this vein. But unlike those leading lights, these guys don't have the pop instincts to throw in the occasional punk scrappers, chamber-folk interludes, or disco rave-up to keep things from getting monotonous.
  22. Feb 4, 2013
    70
    The production may be a little smoother but Pedestrian Verse just seems to prove how lasting, how devastating Frightened Rabbit can be.
  23. Feb 4, 2013
    70
    Now, we see a new-found confidence as they step out their comfort zone for a deeply personal album.
  24. 70
    An album with a self-deprecating title that belies the ambitions and talent displayed within it by this band on the verge of bigger things.
  25. Uncut
    Jan 28, 2013
    70
    Howling from the eye of the storm, Scott Hutchinson's raw holler and bleakly poetic worldview remain the key points of emotional connection. [Feb 2013, p.73]
  26. Magnet
    Feb 11, 2013
    60
    These guys do so many things well--now if they could only find their weird again. [No. 95, p.52]
  27. Feb 7, 2013
    60
    When that intimact/insularity lines gets confused for the characters here, the album is fascinating. It’s when the two blur for the players that things get a bit more problematic.
  28. Mojo
    Feb 6, 2013
    60
    Though succinct segues Housing (In) and Housing (Out) have something of the filler about them, State Hospital and December's Traditions are bleakly beautiful portraits of Broken Britain, Hutchinson's fervent vocal letting it all hang out. [Mar 2013, p.86]
  29. Mar 1, 2013
    58
    Pedestrian Verse is an album made up of melodies, lyrics and verses that are completely, well, pedestrian.
  30. Feb 15, 2013
    40
    So with their fourth LP, where they burst from the tracks with peppy numbers like ‘Holy’ and Biffy-esque choruses on ‘The Woodpile’, it’s a mite disappointing.
User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 37 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 37
  2. Negative: 3 out of 37
  1. Mar 30, 2013
    7
    Their artistry has matured. It's more sophisticated & intricate, but... the songs are missing some of the whimsy and joy of their earlierTheir artistry has matured. It's more sophisticated & intricate, but... the songs are missing some of the whimsy and joy of their earlier work. I kind of think they might be trying too hard (to be taken seriously). Even so, there are still some solid tracks on here, and if you like FR's past work, you're likely to find a handful of songs you'll like on Pedestrian Verse too. Full Review »