Frat Music

The Fratellis' debut album, Costello Music, was just released in the United States last week, but you've probably already heard them without knowing it. The Scottish band's "Flathead" has been accompanying Apple's latest iPod commercial -- a job for which the song, with its alternation between a loping swing and pogo-inciting bursts, is ideally suited. But, infectious as "Flathead" is, you could reasonably wonder whether the rest of the album is any good. Apple advertising has a bit of a reputation for cherry-picking great singles from otherwise mediocre albums -- most famously Caesars' "Jerk It Out," but also The Living Things' "Bom Bom Bom" (for an iTunes-compatible phone) and U2's "Vertigo." So, if you like "Flathead," is Costello Music worth your hard-earned lucre?\nYes, actually. Indeed, one might ask whether Apple actually used the album's best track, as other up-tempo numbers such as "Henrietta" and "Chelsea Dagger" could have sold iPods just as easily. But, no matter -- the point is that Costello Music is a sustained burst of straight-forward hand-clapping, hip-shaking, club-hopping garage-punk fun very much in the vein of The Strokes' Is This It?, The Libertines' Up The Bracket or Hot Hot Heat's Make Up The Breakdown. \nNow, you may be thinking: "So what? There were a gazillion bands like that in the early noughties." And you'd be right -- but what sets The Fratellis apart is that they blend their late-'70s punk with elements harkening back even earlier, to the '50s rockabilly of Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins and (of course) Elvis Presley. They're not revivalists like The Stray Cats, but they do utilize the simple song structure, bouncing beat and sing-along choruses to terrific effect -- there's a reason songs like Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula" still get people dancing, after all. \nSure, it's a little derivative -- and sure it gets a little samey as the album goes on -- but in an indie rock world that has been trending toward the painfully serious lately, Costello Music is a breath of fresh air. When you need a break from Neon Bible, give it a spin.