Album Review: Here We Stand by The Fratellis

On Costello Music, the Fratellis sounded like a ragtag gang, churning out pint-hoisting anthems with anything goes charm and creativity. On their follow-up Here We Stand, it feels like they worked on this music, stepping out of the pub to smooth the edges off their songs and clean up their sound. This doesn't always play to the band's strengths -- where their debut was effortless fun, Here We Stand is more effortful and less memorable.

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Canadians might prefer theirs subtle and introspective, but 2006 UK breakthrough act the Fratellis are testimony to Brits’ insatiable appetite for dumb lad rock – the faster and janglier the better. Here We Stand picks up where the Glasgow oiks’ debut, Costello Music, left off, mining Oasis, Britpop and 60s pop for inspiration and observing a seemingly endless supply of naughty nannies, dumb blonds, washed-up singers and slutty exes in lead singer Jon Fratelli’s nonsensical lyrics. Unlikely to win over any feminists, or win any literary prizes, Here We Stand’s main problem is being overlong and under-chorused.

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There's a whole lot of arctic monkey business going on with sophomore Fratellis release Here We Stand. Fans of the band's poppy, guitar-driven 2006 debut, Costello Music, will again gather 'round to pound pints while jamming energetic tracks such as "Mistress Mabel." The charm also holds steady on well-marinated pub-rousers such as bongo-driven lead-in "My Friend John" and the cheesy sing-along "Look Out Sunshine!" The trio of Scottish faux-bros owes significant debts to T.Rex and the Kinks, swerving onto Abbey Road long enough to let Mr. Kite cast a shadow over "Stragglers Moon" (sample lyric: "And then you're out there digging holes again./Six million people can't be wrong").

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