Listeners ofAll Songs Considered,NPR's online music show, voted the album the eighth best of 2006.
Avinyl reissue ofRabbit Fur Coat was released in January 2016, marking its 10th anniversary.[1] Lewis was also joined in early 2016 byM. Ward andThe Watson Twins for a brief tour celebrating the anniversary.[2]
Rabbit Fur Coat received generally favorable reviews and maintains a normalized rating of 78 out of 100 onMetacritic based on 24 professional reviews.[5]
ActressAnne Hathaway was quoted inPeople as callingRabbit Fur Coat "beautiful, funny, and very subversive".[16]
Within Jenny Lewis' discography,Rabbit Fur Coat is considered "a pivotal key change" for her,[17] serving as a springboard for "one of modernindie rock's most reliably cool careers."[4] Deemed her "melancholy opus,"[18]Coat is known as "[a] tantalizing effort" that led Lewis to success both critically and commercially beyond her bandRilo Kiley.[19]
Coat has impacted several musicians in the time since its release. In a 2012MTV feature, Swedishindie folk duoFirst Aid Kit revealed their use ofCoat as a reference point while making their albumThe Lion's Roar, released that same year. They credited it with prompting them to both "seek solace in sad songs" and to more deeply exploreAmericana music's catalog.[20] In a 2018 interview, they admitted that "when we started out, we basically tried to write songs like the ones" onCoat.[21] That same year, Liz Stokes ofNew Zealand indie rock bandThe Beths wrote that the album "formed the basis of my very first band".[22] Other groups its impact has been noted on includeBest Coast andWaxahatchee.[23]
People noted that album's first track "Run Devil Run," was "old-time gospel" with Chandra and Leigh Watson providing a cappella backing.[24] with other reviews calling the opener track "a breathy, gospel-tinged number"[25] with a "blast of impassioned close harmony bluegrass-style vocals."[26]
Two singles were released: "Rise Up With Fists!!" and "You Are What You Love".
^People 2006 - Volume 65 - Page 44: "MUSIC Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat ALTCOUNTRY Having been an indie darling as frontwoman of ... The disc kicks off with the old-time gospel "Run Devil Run," with Chandra and Leigh Watson providing a cappella ...
^The Absolute Sound 162 - 2006 - Page 141 "The opener, "Run Devil Run," is a breathy, gospel-tinged number, and the notions of God or the absence of God and love or lost ..."
^Hi-fi News - Volume 51 - 2006: Page 105 "blast of impassioned close harmony bluegrass-style vocals on 'Run Devil Run' it's obvious that Lewis is less worried about ..."
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