The Fratellis

Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow known for the album Costello Music, the stadium anthem "Chelsea Dagger," several UK top-10 hits and a live DVD; active since the mid-2000s with reunions and tours.

Author: Leandro Alegsa Creation date: November 13, 2022 Last updated: May 24, 2026

The Fratellis are a Scottish indie rock band formed in Glasgow. The trio perform under the stage names Jon Fratelli, Barry Fratelli and Mince Fratelli. They became known for energetic, hook-driven songs, concise arrangements and a stage persona that mixes humor with driving guitar-pop. Their arrangements typically emphasise sing-along choruses, memorable riffs and compact song structures.

Breakthrough and recordings

The group rose to prominence in the mid-2000s with their debut album, Costello Music, which reached the upper reaches of the United Kingdom album chart and brought widespread attention. That release included several of the band's best-known tracks and helped secure mainstream radio play and festival appearances. In subsequent years they released more studio albums and continued to place records and singles on national charts, including a top ten album and multiple charting singles, among them three that reached the national top 10.

Notable songs and live work

Their most widely recognised song is "Chelsea Dagger", which crossed over from the pop charts to become a popular arena and sports-event anthem. Other singles such as "Henrietta" and "Flathead" expanded the band's profile and received radio support. The Fratellis' energetic live shows were documented on the concert release Edgy In Brixton (DVD), often listed and sold under the title Edgy In Brixton in different formats.

Musically, the band is frequently noted for melodic songwriting, upbeat tempos and a playful lyrical tone that nods to classic British guitar pop while retaining a contemporary indie sensibility. Critics and fans have praised the immediacy of their hooks and the band's knack for concise, radio-friendly songs.

Career arc and activities

After an initial period of commercial success the members pursued side projects and the group went through a temporary hiatus before reuniting for new recordings and tours. Their activity has alternated between studio albums, festival appearances and international touring, and their material continues to appear in media and at sporting events.

For listeners seeking complete discography details, chart histories or current touring information, consult dedicated music databases, press archives and the band's official channels. General overviews and historical summaries can be found through music reference sites and contemporary press coverage that document the band's releases and live output.

Scottish background, indie scene context, rock influences, band format, Glasgow origins, UK chart presence, top ten album reference, top 10 singles note, live DVD and Edgy In Brixton are all commonly cited aspects of the group's public profile.

Band History

The band name comes from the birth name of bassist Barry Wallace's mother, now Barry Fratelli, and is not based on the gang of villains in Richard Donner's The Goonies. The other band members "adopted" this name as their stage name. Fittingly, Fratelli means brothers in Italian.

The trio's breakthrough came in 2006 with the single Henrietta, their first chart hit in the UK. This was followed by two top ten singles and the debut album Costello Music, which went straight to number 2 in the LP charts.

At the beginning of 2007, their album was then also released throughout Europe and entered the charts in the German-speaking countries, among others. The Fratellis became known in January through the Apple iPod-TV commercials in which the song "Flathead" was used, after which the song was also released there on an EP.

There are two T. Rex covers on the Baby Fratelli single. These are a live version of Hot Love (only on the CD single) and a studio version of Solid Gold Easy Action, but only included on the Limited Edition Shaped Vinyl.

The song Chelsea Dagger was played at the 2007 UEFA Cup Final (in Glasgow) while Sevilla FC captain Javi Navarro lifted the trophy. A DVD of the band's full concert at Brixton Academy plus bonus material was released in early October 2007.

On 6 June 2008, their second album Here We Stand was released, which was recorded in their own studio. The Fratellis performed at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in 2007 and 2008.

The song Chelsea Dagger is the theme music for the VOX documentary Mein Restaurant. It is also the goal anthem of the football clubs Juventus Turin, 1. FC Nürnberg and SV Ried as well as the ice hockey clubs ZSC Lions from Zurich, Löwen Frankfurt and the NHL team Chicago Blackhawks. The song can also be heard in the video game Burnout Dominator. For the video game FIFA 09 they contributed the song Tell Me a Lie from the album Here We Stand.

After a hiatus that lasted nearly three years, the band announced on June 4, 2012 that they would use a concert for the Eilidh Brown Memorial Fund as an opportunity to resume working together as The Fratellis. On October 7, 2013, their third album was released under the title We need Medicine.

Style

The Fratellis' sound is more reminiscent of the London rock and punk scene that formed around and after the Libertines than of Scottish neighbors such as Franz Ferdinand. However, there is also a clear influence of British glam rock, with Slade and T. Rex in particular. It is said that Diana Lemm and Glenn Fisher, childhood friends of the Fratellis, had a lasting influence on their musical style, but this is highly debatable in connoisseur circles. According to singer John Lawler, the most dominant influences of the band are: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Clash and Pink Floyd. He holds these traditional role models responsible for the long-term musical success of bands: "Because you can hear in most bands that they were not influenced by older, groundbreaking bands of the last decades, but by bands of the last one or two years, which are just supposed to set a current, short-lived trend. But sooner or later all that will die out."

Author

Creation date: November 13, 2022

Last updated: May 24, 2026