Costello Music : The Fratellis : Review : Rolling Stone

Loose women, late nights and lots of shouting: There's nothing not to like about the debut album from Scottish trio the Fratellis. Their jumpy punk mess of a sound goes down like a debauchery- inspiring elixir, and their song titles ("Vince the Loveable Stoner," "Got Ma Nuts From a Hippie") read like charming inside jokes. Just about every tune on Costello Music includes a round or five of good-time barroom yodeling. The chorus for "Flathead," the band's preternaturally catchy lead single (you know it from that iTunes ad), goes something like "bara bap bara ra ra ra." It's not all fun and games: On the downtrodden but defiant "Doginabag," singer Jon Fratelli drawls, "There's nothing much really going on out here/I'm holding on for dear life and one more beer," over tremulous guitars. But most of Costello is like a madcap Glasgow pub crawl: It makes you elated in the moment and sorry when it's over.