Customer Reviews

Here We Stand

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It seems The Fratellis have turned into a post brit-pop/indie band since their last album. Costello Music was Fantastic. I gave it 10/10 in all my reviews because it was original, full of energy, and great fun. It made me feel great listening to it. 'Here We Stand' is nothing in comparison. A below average indie album, boring, awful vocals and a lot of the tunes have been nicked from other music I've heard. (So definitely not original). For instance the tune they play in Lupe Brown sounds as if its been copied from the film 'August Rush'. I understand a band should grow, but I don't like the direction they have chosen, or where they are heading. I so wanted to like this album but it comes as a huge disappointment after the success of Costello Music.

The Fratellis rose quickly to fame in their native UK (they hail from Scotland) with their astounding debut 2006 album "Costello Music", which was released in Spring, 2007 here in the US. That album boosted not 1, not 2, not 3, but an astonishing 6 singles in the UK. I absolutely loved that album, and eagerly picked up the eagerly-awaited new album.

"Here We Stand" (11 tracks, 48 min.) boosts the same energy as the debut album but one thing that immediately is striking is that the songs are much longer than on the debut album (which featured 13 songs in a mere 41 min.). The album starts off with a great "My Friend Jack", followed by "A Heady Tale" (2nd UK single). "Mistress Mabel" (1st UK single) is another highlight. Other highlights for me include the riff-heavy "Tell Me a Lie", and the Green Day-sounding "Lupe Brown". The closer "Milk and Money" sums up the album quite nicely, with a piano intro, then crashing in with guitars.

In all, "Here We Stand" is a nice album, but long story short, it's not as catchy or good, period, as "Costello Music". I saw the Fratellis on their "Costello Music" tour last year at Coachella, and they were outstanding. They will be at the Monolith festival this coming September, which I will be attending, and I can't wait to see how the songs from "Here We Stand" will stand up live.

Scottish trio The fratellis follow up their million selling debut "Costello music" with a sleek, less abrasive sophomore disc, "Here we stand". While nothing here quite matches "Whistle for the choir" or "Chelsea dagger" (they seem a wee bit restrained), the lads still put up a great show.

Lead off single "Mistress Mabel" is an Elton John-style piano rocker. It is nice, but I feel there are better songs on the album that could have been selected; the catchy, sunny "Look out sunshine" or the beautiful retro sounding "Babydoll" (jangly guitars and nice harmonies). Also sounding retro is the swinging "Lupe Brown".

"Tell me a lie" is a gritty Blues/Rocker with a buzzing bassline, similar to what Jack and Meg White would do, while "Acid jazz singer" reminds me a wee bit of "Whistle for the choir". The UK edition includes "Jesus stole my baby", a driving rocker with lyrics about his girlfriend abandoning him for religion (I love the harmonica solo). "A heady tale" is a jaunty song with interesting tempo shifts.

Closing is the beautiful piano ballad "Milk and money", gentle and lulling, with an upbeat swinging tempo shift midway through for a lovely guitar/harmony coda. A fitting way to end this fun filled CD.

Rolling on from the 2006 debut album Costello Music, recorded less than a year after the trio - Jon, Mince and Barry Fratelli - formed, and which went on to sell a million copies, "Here We Stand" is the follow up from the Scottish moppy haired bros.
By that point, they had apparently written half of this follow-up, which might account for the sameyness and sense of déjà vu.
The CD is only following the time-honoured guideline for any new band who enjoy a stratospheric rise with their debut album: stick to what you already know works, don't start experimenting at least until album three. Given that The Fratellis are proud to say they won't pursue a tune for more than 15 minutes, there may be a wait before the concept album about a tramp they met in the park sees the light of day.
The album is harmless fun that comprises big dumb pop songs, nonsensical lyrics with a generic indie/rock melody that you can be sure of hearing at every pub in town. It's lad music at its finest; think lyrics you could get away with bellowing at a football stadium.
Even though there is not much substance to this album it is not a terrible attempt just rather a disappointing one.
"Here We Stand" is the definition of the perfect soundtrack for your next bar crawl or for any 'plastic gangster' type characters that you see lurking around your local.
This music isn't to be taken too seriously and can be seen as mainly enjoyed whilst being under the influence.
Ostensibly, The Fratellis have served up the same dish again, but have played about a bit with the ingredients. They bow out on a hopeful note with "Lupe Brown", which exhibits a hitherto untapped way with a skyscraping Bay City Rollers-style chorus, and "Milk & Money", a piano-led foray into Bowiesque territory that hopefully points the way forward now that John Lawler, aka Jon Fratelli, has discovered the joys of keyboards.
The lead single, "Mistress Mabel", is at least speedy, catchy bar-room ribaldry. It's the only thing here that deserves to have the success of Chelsea Dagger, the single that threatens to be this bands' career high.
But albums this single-minded really shouldn't hang around for over 50 minutes : before the party's even over, the hangover has kicked in. In fairness, 'Here We Stand" is well-executed, but there is something a little heartless in their mix of 1970s glam and post-Libertines rock.
But The Fratellis are clever, they understand the power of the sing-along chorus as a winning formula for success.

The Fratellis' most recent album, "Here We Stand," had much to live up to, given that their first EP "Costello Music" was one of the best alternative albums released in recent years in my opinion. So I wasn't surprised when I sampled "Here We Stand" because obviously they can't all be 5-star-albums. But it is decent, decent enough to not have completely ignored it amongst better recent albums in this genre. I would say if you really loved "Costello Music," it's worth buying "Here We Stand." If you are new to this band, I suggest buying "Costello Music" first.

Costello Music might be one of my top ten favorite albums of all time. Catchy, infectious, melodic, sarcastic, snot nosed and so much fun--everything you would want from a post punk pop outfit out of Glasgow. I had so looked forward to having another selection from the Fratellis if only to give Costello Music a break in the rotation once in awhile. Unfortunately, this cd is just one big heartbreaking disappointment. I gave it several listens hoping against hope that it would grow on me but my initial impression only became worse with repeated efforts. It sounds like a poor copy of a Kaiser Chiefs record at best at worst it is just another uninspired indy/alt record that will find it's way to the back of my collection to gather dust. What were the boys thinking? Some of the songs might be okay if they would just pick up the tempo a bit . . .but the songs just plod and bore.

All currency they gained with me from Costello Music they lost with their follow up, Here We Stand. Its an okay album, but just doesn't have the spark and whimsy of the first one.

For people who liked the first the Fratellis album, and are expecting something like that will have a big surprise. I think is so good as the last one (Castello music), but a little more light. Good music good stuff, but different. I recomend!

My husband and I are huge fans of The Fratellis from their first record, 'Costello Music'. We had high expectations of romping fun Irish drinking music, and unfortunately on this record the Fratellis seem to be unable to find their real sound. They are kind of all over the place. There are some decent tracks and the album isn't horrible by any means, but I think if this was the first thing I had heard by them I wouldn't be to anxious to hear more.

The Fratellis are one of those Britpop bands exploding with energy and lovable roguishness, and that is basically what their debut album "Costello Music" was full of.

Which brings us to their sophomore offeering: "Here We Stand," an album of explosive laddish energy, late wild nights out on the town, and solid catchy riffs, just like their first one. The Glaswegians don't quite stick to a solid sound in this album, but diddle around with a few new styles and tempos -- there's shreds of alt-rock, blues-rock and hard-rock stuck in their Britpop.

They don't really add anything new to their sound -- it's all still bouncy guitar-laden Britpop -- but they diddle around with some other styles from time to time.

"Have you got a shape?" "Yes." "What shape would you be?"

With that odd little conversation, the band busts out into the rattling drums and rapidly blazing riffs of "My Brother John." It's a wild little song of "Saturday night in the year of the good thief," dumb blondes, wild night scenes, and "My friend John was a serious one/Buttoned up the back and a job half done/Lazy old boy when the good girls turn/His teeth get itchy and his rubber soles burn/When will he ever learn?"

They don't lose their momentum in "A Heady Tale," where the countryish guitars are tempered by a fierce, jangly piano and funny lyrics ("you know cold-blooded women make me sneeze"). And as the album winds on, they acquire a bit of a sunny alt-rock sound -- countryish ballads, breezy swaying rockers, fast-moving Britpop, and burning guitarpop. And they finish it off with the smooth, plaintive "Lupe Brown," and a wash of gentle piano that switches midsong into a smashing cascade of guitars.

But they do start to falter a little in the stompy, clumpy "Shameless" and the uneven, uncertain "Tell Me A Lie." Both songs seem to be a foray into harder rock'n'roll, but it feels like they overcrammed the songs with bass and electric riffs. They're far more successful with the more complex melody of "Acid Jazz Singer."

The core of the Fratellis' music has not really changed -- their songs are short, snappy and brimming with lots of pep, and lyrics about drinking, girls and the life of a band. "Here We Stand" is pretty clearly intended to be a fun, not terribly deep listen, and the Fratellis succeed magnificently in that corner -- although it lacks a cohesive sound all the way through. A little experiment here, a little influence there.

Guitars still dominate their music -- they make up most of the instrumentation, and keep everything catchy and nimble. Steely, acoustic, cycling, sharp dancy melodies and blazing electric riffs are spattered liberally all over the album, sometimes woven in with some bass. Solid drums back virtually everything, and occasionally they twine in some jangly piano and weird distortion.

And Jon Fratelli always sounds like a nice boy who's just gotten over a broken heart and a hangover -- his voice is strong but a little rough. And he sings songs that are cleverer and tighter than any previous Fratellis songs ("They got yesterday's heroes and last night clothes/You're a game old boy judging by the way you walk"). And they're full of worn-out acid jazz singers, "Mistress Mabel," and thieving gypsy women.

"Here We Are" is the sound of a band figuring out what they want to be when they grow up, and providing a little entertaining music along the way. Worth hearing, but hopefully leading on to something even better.