The Fratellis

If Muse’s ‘Knights Of Cydonia’ was the soundtrack to an epic Western stallion charge, it’s not hard to imagine ‘Here We Stand’ accompanying the post-bloodshed knees up in some comedy swing door saloon. In that sense, the imagery’s the same as on The Fratellis’ previous LP, yet now, while the three chord guitars and shouty bar room singalongs are all correct and present, this time the band have added quick fingered piano, moments of woozy and a bunch of new studio effects. This is especially true on ‘A Heady Tale’ – a bolted on future single release – that is lifted outside The Fratellis’ usual arena by some impressive ivory tinkering, and ‘Mistress Mabel’ which includes a chorus far developed from the terrace chants that typified ‘Costello Music’.

The result’s a natural progression that’ll have existing fans gushing (even if the crawl-along nonsense of ‘Acid Jazz Singer’ is a step far), while for those that can remember that far back, the parallels with Supergrass’s development are uncanny.