Thursday 17/04/08 The Fratellis @ Cardiff Solus

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Although The Fratellis’ debut album Costello Music was choc-full of glam-rock stompers, it was almost devoured by the ubiquitous single ‘Chelsea Dagger’. The track has spawned a life of its own - sound tracking Hollywood scores, darts matches and football terraces across the country. The notoriety stakes scaled the preposterous when the Glasgow three-piece were asked to record a song for David Beckham’s arrival at LA Galaxy last July - they knowingly declined the offer.

A brief sabbatical has allowed The Fratellis to get back to what they do best - penning jingoistic garage-rock tunes that do actually what they say on the tin. A small run of showcase gigs have allowed them to try out new material from their forthcoming album, Here We Stand. Opening track ‘Mistress Mabel’ suggested the band were ready to tinker with the winning pop formula as frantic keys and flange pedal guitar hooks raced around a blistering chorus.

The statuesque crowd clearly needed a wake-up call and it was duly provided by lead singer Jon Lawler, simply saying, "Don’t be shy - it’s only us". A wave of new material ensued until the rollicking ‘Baby Fratelli’ threatened to blow off the roof and summon a Hootenanny eight months early. Such was the ferocity of the gig that the keyboard was sent into meltdown for a few minutes with Lawler joking in his Scottish drawl, ‘I think we’ve run out gas’. The band regrouped with the sedate ‘Acid Jazz Singer’ - a slick number that had Lawler at his most showy with bluesy guitar and thoughts of Chelsea still whirring around his emotive head. The acoustic strum of ‘Ole Black ’n’ Blue Eyes’ sent a series of pints into orbit and it flowed neatly into new track ‘My Friend John’ - a western style showdown that pushed The Fratellis experimental muscle a bit further.

The plaintive ‘Sing For Choir’ wrapped up proceedings with most in the crowd gleefully whistling out of the tune to the closing bars. A brief encore began with the bruising ‘Flathead’ and ended, rather predictably, with ‘Chelsea Dagger.’ Lawler held aloft his brew in victorious fashion before blasting into the track - a glam-rock throwback akin to the likes of the Bay City Rollers and T-Rex. With an exciting set of new tunes interspersed with classics from their debut, The Fratellis are ready to remove the noose of ‘Chelsea Dagger.’