I’ve never been a huge fan of The Fratellis. I’ve dipped in and out of their catalogue over the years but I never understood the hype connected to their music. It could be the fact that Chelsea Dagger haunted me for years working in Glasgow’s club scene or could be I was just wasn’t paying enough attention, but after stumbling across Half Drunk Under A Full Moon while browsing Amazon I’m willing to admit that I’ve been missing out on these guys.
Released at the beginning of April, Half Drunk Under A Full Moon grabs your attention straight away with the title track before moving effortlessly from track to track, keeping my attention the entire time which in these days is no easy feat.
Title track Half Drunk Under A Full Moon is a catchy little summertime anthem that would be perfect on any playlist and the second track, Need A Little Love, reminds me of Across the Universe by The Beatles for some reason. Maybe it’s just the lyrical phrasing and delivery but I don’t care who you are, being compared to those guys is never a bad thing.
From start to finish the album weaves from track to track delivering a lovely little mix of indie bliss with each track complimenting the last and leading into the next. Lay Your Body Down, The Last Songbird and Oh Roxy are all wonderful in their own way and are the perfect feelgood singalong material for your next road trip while the more sombre Action Relay is a nice little change of pace in the second half of the album that helps give some variety to proceedings.
Six Days In June is probably my favourite track on the entire album and it’s easy to see why this was the lead single. If ever you needed a song that perfectly exemplified an album, then Six Days In June would be it. Aside from The Beatles, some of the harmonies seem a little reminiscent of The Beach Boys and I can hear a little George Harrison across the album as well and really I can’t really fault a single part of this release. Put simply, it’s great.
I’m not an indie guy by any stretch but there’s an intangible charm to Half Drunk Under A Full Moon that isn’t easy to come by in this day age and not only am I more than willing to accept that I’ve been wrong about this band for the last 15 years but today, I’m also willing to admit they’ve earned themselves a new fan.
by Edward Laing
