Review Summary: I said it from the start; rock 'n' roll will break my heart.
Insecure lovesickness and sheer passion is often audible in music. Most notable in this emotional pool are the likes of the Violent Femmes, Vampire Weekend, and The Smiths. Something about these groups create a very relatable, depressing and often musically immersive sound which shoegazing, intellectual romance-ridden teenagers will often find most appealing. At times, this sort of atmosphere can become very commonplace in contemporary music, and can be raped of its value and aggression. Morrissey’s eloquent social minimalism is synthesized into less-realistic Echosmith; Vampire Weekend’s dating-in-college romance sound is dead and gone, and most of Gano’s social consciousness is only sugar-coated by blues rock band, The Fratellis.
The Scottish trio’s third album, ‘We Need Medicine’ is but a euphemism for this then musical illness -- a shadow of the lyrical awesomeness of being admittedly average. Some songs fake this sort of feeling completely (“One part evil, three-fifths blind / She's not gone yet but she's leaving”), while others simply attempt to amalgamate it (If you could say I was with you or call you mine anymore / You always throw your hands up like some good little girl / Come on baby, this is not the end of the world”). Various tracks seem to incorporate such ideas (“I won't be happy 'til I don't have a friend / I just can't convince myself of what I'll never comprehend”) but fail due to the lack of pride -- as such, The Fratellis are holding themselves back greatly by watering their music down this much. Bearing facades of feverish euphemistic lyrics seems to be futile for the band’s fate -- their pop sound pokes through too much to be lovesick. In layman’s words, they’re trying too hard.
The music that lies beneath often demonstrates an independent aesthetic (independent from the lyrics, that is) -- jangly guitar-wrought, danceable songs whose instrumentation is rather wide are extremely catchy and anthemic, such as “This Old Ghost Town” and “Seven Nights Seven Days”, which, by their upbeat tempos and melodic vocals beg the question: what the hell does this band have to be “blue” about? In strong contrast with the lyrics (“I've never been shy but I've kept my head down / Knowing about enough to get by this old ghost town”), the sugary melodies seem to be a completely separate element to the ‘We Need Medicine’, making it rather incoherent and unorganized musically.
As if for practice, The Fratellis will often repeat a riff or verse far beyond desired. “She’s Not Gone Yet But She’s Leaving” has minimal progression in a 4 minute track, whose verse is extremely repetitive and becomes very predictable. “Shotgun Shoes” will exhibit said traits as well, with similar vocal deliveries and riffs throughout. The latter is a prime example of good music that is ruined by excessive, mindless repetition, as displayed by “Rock N Roll Will Break Your Heart”, a ballad-esque song which is as bad a song as it is lyrically descriptive of my feelings of ‘We Need Medicine.’
The Fratellis seem to be compositionally skilled -- disregarding the repetition, all songs are very well arranged and have catchy melodies. The vocals, wailing in alleged passion are some of the best. They also managed to make most songs sound just alike enough to make a unified record. Why, then, must they attempt to emulate the averagely-proud sound of aforementioned groups? Including these qualities constantly hinders the skill of The Fratellis. 3.5/5
