The Midnight Organ Fight - Accolades

Accolades

"On the face of it, their product is hardly revolutionary. Yet, for the past year and a half, The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit has been the album that simply keeps on giving. Potty-mouthed songwriter Scott Hutchison’s dog-on-heat tales of drunken love and lust could, in less capable hands, have manifested themselves as self-indulgent lad rock. But the awesome visceral force that ensured these songs came to fruition helps make them some of the best of the decade."

—Finbarr Bermingham of The Skinny in 2009, on the record's replayability.

The Midnight Organ Fight found itself in several "must have" lists that were compiled by various music publications, networks, and other media in the years following its release. Bill Cummings of God Is in the TV opined that the band had managed to, "step up to embrace a more luscious sound showcasing their unique ability (unlike many bands) to make personal experience connect on an almost anthemic, universal level. Scott’s songs convey candid tales of ordinary folk with a wry, acerbic wit via an eloquent, emotive, modern garage-pop aesthetic." Drowned in Sound ranked the album at number two in their "Best Albums of 2008" list with Alexander Tudor writing, "Fact: Casual Listeners will buy what they’re told, if it’s got tunes and a catchphrase, which means the airwaves are always polluted with inanities, and we assume the norm is natural. But Word-of-Mouth means something, it means you're kept listening, maybe it means you loved that album, you felt like it was yours, and the votes you chose to send-in tell us the Not-So-Casual listener does care for the words s/he listens to; in this case, an album about breaking-up and f*cking-up, with the grisliest imagery since Arab Strap, and a moral complexity eclipsing Belle & Sebastian." It ranked at number twenty seven on The Fly's end-of-year album list, with Stephen Brolan stating, "The Midnight Organ Fight may be a bitter, bitter account of relationships ending, but it is also one of the year's most sheerly loveable and entertaining albums. Pop brilliance and emotional turmoil perfectly synthesised." The Midnight Organ Fight also appeared in NMEs end-of year list at number thirty six, as well as being included in their "Greatest Albums of the Decade" article. In the latter, Barry Nicholson opined, "It’s a dark tunnel, but this record is worth it." Finbarr Bermingham of The Skinny named the album as the fourth best in Scotland between 2000-2009. He noted, "Trying to pick an album highlight has been an exercise in futility. Over the course of 18 months, any one of ten tracks has suggested itself as a contender. The song-writing here is accumulative: borrowing from a range of styles to create a near perfect whole; a flawless indie-pop record." American magazine Treble, while including the album in their "Best Albums of the 00s" list, said that the band, "blew the doors wide open with the epic, emotionally charged, The Midnight Organ Fight. If there's an album from 2008 with more fantastic melodies, I certainly haven't heard it. To paraphrase their own lyrics, they're much better than ever." The album also received end-of-year inclusions from various other media including Alternative Ulster, The A.V Club, Magnet, Lost at Sea, Pitchfork Media, and The Village Voice.

Publication	Country	Nominated work	Accolade	Year	Rank
Alternative Ulster	United Kingdom	The Midnight Organ Fight	Top Albums of the Year	2008	3
Drowned In Sound			Top Fifty Albums of the Year		2
The Fly			Albums of '08		27
NME			Top Fifty Albums of the Year		36
			Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade	2009	89
The Skinny			Top Ten Albums of the Year	2008	1
			Scottish Albums of the Decade	2009	4
The A.V Club	United States		Best Music of the Year	2008	20
Lost at Sea			Year End Report: Staff Composite Top 20		20
Magnet			Top Albums of the Year		7
Pitchfork Media			Fifty Best Albums of the Year		33
		"The Modern Leper"	The 100 Best Tracks of 2008		78
Treble		The Midnight Organ Fight	The Best Albums of the '00s	2010	147
The Village Voice			Pazz & Jop	2008	34