The great Keith Richards once termed rock and roll as “Music for the neck downward.”
On their second full-length album, Scottish band The Fratellis attempt to remind us just that. Absent are the gimmicky political agendas and emotionally laden lyrics that have become staples of so many once respectable artists. In their place is just a lot of fun and good old rock and roll.
On their sophomore album, Here We Stand, The Fratellis stick to what worked before. With the addition of a more prominent piano, their post-punk/British-pop/country twang sound that is characteristic of their first album is replicated almost exactly. Songs like “Mistress Mabel” and “Tell Me a Lie” are full of the cheeky lyrics, heavy guitar riffs and simple drum lines that made the first album so great.
However, there is a sense that this album is simply a lesser version of the Fratellis’s first. Though the sound is the same, the album is missing the instantaneously catchy sing-alongs of its predecessor Costello Music. There is no “Chelsea Dagger” or “Baby Fratelli” to which the listener can immediately attach.
Still the album is a solid effort. The music remains the best soundtrack for all the bar-brawling, drunken antics that anyone could ask for. How much more rock and roll can you get?
Related Posts
