The Fratellis
Costello Music

The Soundwaves Vinyl of the Week is The Fratellis Costello Music.

 

Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, The Fratellis dropped their debut hit album twenty years ago in (2006). The alt-rock band consists of three unrelated members, all taking 'Fratelli' as their last names—a obvious nod to The Ramones. I originally discovered their music when their track “Flathead”, a catchy tune about a wild individual appeared in an Apple iPod commercial—remember them? I then went down the rabbit hole and fell in love with the entire album, as well as their follow up album, Here We Stand. The three things that pulled me toward this band’s music was their high-gain guitars, solid rock drumming, and I found that the lyrics told interesting stories. 

 

For instance, “Henrietta” is a song with a groupie-like fantasy of bandmates trying to convince some girl to leave her man and run away with them. There’s a guy pining for what sounds like a burlesque dancer in the song “Chelsea Dagger”, with lyrics like:

Chelsea, Chelsea, I believe

That when you're dancing slowly, sucking your sleeve

The boys get lonely after you leave

It’s one for the Dagger, another for the one you believe.

Besides that, this song is quite popular in major sports stadiums and arenas, especially used by the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks.

 

“Vince The Lovable Stoner” is comical. Do I even have to describe what this song is about. “Baby Fratelli” is that all-to-familiar story of the late night hookup at a bar or club that doesn’t work out for one reason or another. And then you got the flip side to that story—and also the funniest song title on the album “Got My Nuts From A Hippy”. It tells the tale of a guy meeting a girl in a bar who took him back to her van and made him a real man, all the while he hoped it was all a dream.