Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

The trouble with having such an iconic debut album, one that shrieks gladly every time it is taken out of the Perspex holder, is that any follow up albums the artist or group does is going to have a bench mark so high that even standing haphazardly on the tallest ladder with a piece of chalk in one hand a measuring tape in the other will not come probably close to ever beating. This is the problem that has faced many bands for a long time and it’s no wonder that many artists get so disillusioned it all, only the hardy keep going.

In The Fratellis’ latest album, the suggestively titled We Need Medicine, the past glories of the band’s titanic debut album are still to be heard, the sound produced by the three musicians is still chomping at the bit to be let go with a flourish befitting a band that had their music played throughout loudspeakers at many top level sports grounds during their initial burst onto the conscious. However, even with the band having been away for a while and coming back with excellence during their last tour the band still don’t quite get to the same level of interest.

You should never wish for a group to stand still on it’s laurels and keep producing the same old music over and over again, it isn’t good for their creativity and it isn’t good for the listener’s appreciation, there will always be some small part of the soul that just urges the listener to whisper as they undo the Cellophane wrapper, please give me something outstanding, something memorable in which I can dismiss the past and consign it to the played every so often file.

We Need Medicine is a very good album of that there is no doubt, it plays along with the listener, teasing them ever so often with the hint that the song will blast out of the speakers and with no hint of malice, scream at the solitary figure before them, “Listen to me, I’m great.” She’s Not Gone Yet But She’s Leaving, Whisky Saga, This Is Not The End of The World and Jeannie Nitro come very close to that sentimental outburst and for that small favours must be blessed, for The Fratellis are too good a band to simply let go.

A debut album is hard to live up to but with perseverance and talent, something the Fratellis have in abundance, at least they are still giving their fans a thrill or two as they go.

Ian D. Hall