Review Summary: Chelsea, Chelsea?
Ten years ago, alongside bands like the Arctic Monkeys, and the Kooks, Scottish-trio The Fratellis burst onto the UK music scene on a wave of energy-filled and raucous rock and roll. However, ever since their debut album,
Costello Music, the Fratellis have shifted gears quite dramatically from being rabble rousing, energizing rockers to being a more middle of the road band, certainly adventurous in spirit, but not exactly in practice. Their transition has been anything but smooth, as their 2013 “reunion” album,
We Need Medicine, fell flat in more ways than one, but, namely, to the disappointment of many of their fans (this reviewer included) it just did not have the same punch as their earlier work, both musically and lyrically. While their compatriots have found varying amounts of success, the Fratellis have never reached the same level of popularity as they had when they first debuted. But, to the chagrin of many, it does not appear that the band is concerned with releasing radio-ready singles or finding chart success around the world; instead, we have three guys who just want to go out and play their brand of music.
With all that in mind, The Fratellis fourth studio album,
Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied finds the band continuing their reinvention away from the likes of "Chelsea Dagger" and more towards a more “middle of the road” sound, rewarding intent listeners with some truly captivating moments. Once again, we find that the trio is at the top of their game when they bump up the tempo, crank up the amps, and let themselves go as they did on
Costello Music and to an extent on
Here We Stand. Songs like “Baby Don’t You Lie to Me!” and especially “Down the Road and Back…Again…”are small windows into the band’s past; with both featuring immediately captivating guitar-based hooks that are easy to sing along to, and both being nearly on-par musically with much of the band’s earlier work, overall. Another standout track is “Thief,” which throws a little bit of everything into the mix: a walking, descending bassline, a few trademark “ah-ah-ah’s,” and even comes off with a little bit of swagger and sway that pumps the song up to the next level. That’s not to say that the Fratellis are not capable of finding success with slower numbers, it just seems more difficult for the band to create something as intriguing. The other songs on Eyes Wide are a mixed bag, with the clear highlights being the shuffling, almost atmospheric presence of “Imposters (Little by Little),” and the deceptively simple “Medusa in Chains,” however the rest of the slower numbers, including the overdone “Rosanna” and the appropriately titled “Slow,” failing to resonate longer than their track lengths. These two, alongside the tracks that fall somewhere in-between rousing and introspective (“Dogtown,” “Getting Surreal,” “Me and the Devil”) are what cause
Eyes Wide to be an uneven listen.
While outdoing its predecessor by a fair margin,
Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied is a worthwhile, entertaining listen, and certainly contains a good number of outstanding moments, but, taken as a whole, simply ends up being another good, but not outstanding album from the self-proclaimed Glaswegian heroes. The reunited Fratellis are certainly still a work in progress, but the moments of genius that are scattered throughout
Eyes Wide proves that the trio, buoyed by the songwriting of Jon Lawler, and solidified by an outstanding rhythm section, seem to be in a good place moving forward with their reinvention.
