Up until 2006, the Fratelli surname was arguably best known for the bonehead brothers who got Chunk to reveal he stole his uncle Max's toupee and tossed fake puke over a movie theater balcony in The Goonies. Since then, however, The Fratellis have become more than just an undynamic duo in a cult film classic. The Glasgow band of brothers (Jon, Barry and Mince) burst onto the music scene with their hit debut album Costello Music, which spawned a couple hits including the Apple-friendly "Flathead" and the mega "Chelsea Dagger." Two years after that impressive debut, the trio dropped the follow-up "Here We Stand," but since then they've gone into hiding a bit. Well, that hibernation is clearly over with their "We Need Medicine" LP which dropped earlier this fall. The Frats supported their stellar third album with a fall tour that essentially sold out every city they went to with more dates in the works.
Earlier this month, most of the band performed and sat down for an A-Sides chat. Obviously, the focus was on the new stuff, but "Chelsea Dagger" obviously came up. That's one of the drawbacks of creating one of the best songs ever I guess. Anyway, watch the session filmed by shootmepeter.com at The Log Cabin in the Manhattan Center below. (A-Sides theme by Blondfire.)
We go from Frats and Goonie talk to New York's Little Bombs, who just dropped a 2-song 10" LP, and it's a lovely throwback to 1990s alt-rock giants like Smashing Pumpkins, The Replacements, and Pavement. The record, which was produced by Jesse Gander (Japandroids, White Lung, is out now and again, it's solid - somewhere between contemporary, original music and retro-90s alt-rock. Earlier this month, the band performed a pair of tracks and chatted on A-Sides. Watch the session, which was filmed at the Music Conservatory of Westchester, below and thank me any time you'd like. Today works.
* Click here to see Little Bombs play "Strange" on A-Sides!
A-Sides "Delve Into Twelve" Countdown
Each week A-Sides unleashes its Top 12 tracks of the week AKA the "Delve Into Twelve"based on the following contributing factors: songs I'm playing out that particular week NO MATTER WHEN THEY WERE RELEASED (think overlooked songs, unreleased tracks, and old favorites), songs various publicists are trying to get me to listen to that I did and listened to and liked (phew), posts and trends I've noticed on my friends' Facebook walls, and - most importantly - the songs my 1 1/2+ year-old son gravitates toward. Yeah, you read that right. This weeks follows below (LW= last week's rank):
12. "Bound 2" - Kanye West
11. "Wrecking Ball" - Miley Cyrus
10. "Bitter Rivals" (LW-9) - Sleigh Bells
9. "25 Bucks" - Danny Brown featuring Purity Ring
8. "Chain My Name" (LW-8) - Polica
7. "Gold" - Sir Sly
6. "Don't Save Me" (LW-3) - Haim
5. ""Avocado, Baby" - Los Campesinos!
4. "Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)" (LW-4) - Arcade Fire
3. "Bad Blood" (LW-2) - Bastille
2. "Ain't Your Right" - Sky Ferreira
1. "Reflektor"(LW-1) - Arcade Fire
About A-Sides Music
Jon Chattman's "A-Sides Music" series was established in August 2011 and usually features artists (established or not) from all genres performing a track, and discussing what it means to them. This informal series focuses on the artist making art in a low-threatening, extremely informal (sometimes humorous) way. No bells, no whistles -- just the music performed in a random, low-key setting followed by an unrehearsed chat. In an industry where everything often gets overblown and over manufactured, I'm hoping this is refreshing. A-Sides theme song performed by Blondfire.