13. Painting of a Panic Attack / Frightened Rabbit

Painting of a Panic Attack may be the Scottish band's most cohesive record.  Produced by The National's Aaron Dessner, the record moves through a series of bittersweet anthems, which never teeter over the edge due to the barely-holding-on voice of lead singer Scott Hutchison.  Though it may lack an immediate clutch of singles like "The Woodpile" or "Swim Until You Can't See Land," the sum total captures the band's weary essence better than any record to date; perhaps it is Dessner's robust and nuanced production, complete with orchestral accents, that carries the band into somber highs befitting The National.  But if you are looking for out of the box hooks, "Get Out," "Woke Up Hurting," and "I Wish I Was Sober" still pack plenty of dreary punch.

Frightened Rabbit has always depicted northern life in all its broken-hearted, weather-changing, working class glory, and this time, somewhere in the gloom, there is an uplift provided by newfound maturity.  The band's underdog charm was always enhanced by its ramshackle sound, but here, while reaching for the back of the room with arena-friendly chops, Hutchison works hard to maintain the band's melancholy edge by way of some of his most focused songwriting.

There is something about Scottish bands that always gets to me: the lovelorn, world-weary, existential sadness that the best have tapped into over the years.  Belle & Sebastian, The Cocteau Twins, Mogwai, Idlewild, The Blue Nile and others are no strangers to sad-sack bedfellows like Hutchinson and his bandmates.