IN REVIEW: The Fratellis - "In Your Own Sweet Time"

I'll be first to admit that I fell off the Fratellis bandwagon relatively early on; after releasing the brash and immensely entertaining Costello Music in 2006 and following it up with the more uneven Here We Stand less than two years later, they seemed to be running out of steam after just two albums. The five year gap between Here We Stand and We Need Medicine didn't help, and neither did its underwhelming singles. By the time their reunion hit full stride on 2015's Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied, I had entirely stopped paying attention along with pretty much everyone outside of their small, devoted fan base.

After eventually hearing some of that last album's tracks, I had to admit there was still something there after all; while their music was mostly far removed from that of Costello Music, there was a maturity and a classic feel that gave Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied an endearing quality.

These are trends that more or less continue on In Your Own Sweet Time, but there are a few new tricks thrown in; lead off track Stand Up Tragedy introduces falsetto to the mix, as well as a little more groove than we're used to. Sugartown's doo-wop undertones are an interesting touch, while The Next Time We Wed glides on a funky synth groove. Then, there's Advaita Shuffle, which features an Eastern-tinged guitar riff that comes off like a weird cross between The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows and Nirvana's All Apologies; oh, and there's banjos and timpani because reasons. Perhaps the album's biggest surprise comes at its conclusion; I Am That, a seven-minute slow burning epic, drives home that Beatles influence and picks up steam as it hurdles toward the album's end.

Throughout all these disparate influences, The Fratellis' knack for hooks is what lends In Your Own Sweet Time most of its charm. Starcrossed Losers' chorus is instantly memorable, and only soars higher as its instrumentation grows. Ditto I've Been Blind, a song that simply glides along on an easy groove before exploding into a big chorus that explodes into its own bigger chorus. Even the album's biggest misstep, the clunky arena rocker I Guess... I Suppose, packs on more and more harmonies until you can't help but smile.

All told, In Your Own Sweet Time isn't likely to win their dissenters over, especially those who desperately long for a return to the speedier, seedier tunes circa Costello Music; that said, I suspect any blatant attempt to recapture that lightning in a bottle would run too great a risk of feeling forced at this point. So, better to push forward, then; that is the mission The Fratellis accomplish here, and they do so while keeping their highly tuned melodic skills intact. It doesn't exactly reinvent the band, and it does run a bit uneven thanks to its wide array of sounds, but it's nonetheless the most consistently engaging Fratellis record in a decade. Consider me back on board.

March 16, 2018 • Cooking Vinyl
Highlights Starcrossed Losers • I've Been Blind • I Am That

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