the fratellis - "creeping up the backstairs" (from the creeping up the backstairs ep, released april 3, import available for purchase here.)

in brief : another week, another song to get terribly excited about.

no polka-dot dresses, no theremins, no horn sections here--"creeping up the backstairs" manages to be exceptional, in a sea of libertines clones (and libertines spin-offs), just by being exceptional guitar rock.

ok. perhaps i lied; not about quality, but about the meat-and-potatoes of it all. "creeping" hits one of my major weak spots; it does so w/ an abundance of handclaps.

it starts like a hypertrophied version of benny goodman's "sing, sing, sing," except when one would expect horns, one gets guitars--and handclaps. the claps and the kick drum on the chorus, w/ its tight harmonies, make it all seem somehow conspiratorial. which i guess it is, after all one doesn't creep up backstairs if one doesn't have something to hide, and "creeping" is lyrically traditional fare, all about the things boys and girls do that they don't want mom and dad to know about, but it's all about the thrill of the getaway rather than the freedom of escape. the tempo is appropriately breakneck, then, somewhere between full-on panic and a 33 played at 78, but the listener is in no rush for it all to end.

it's vital stuff and places the scottish three-piece on an increasingly-longer list of new bands to watch.