Guilty Pleasure of the (cough) Week - Flathead

Feb 28, 2007 at 9:56 PM
130 comments

All music for me falls into four categories: 1) music I both like and respect (e.g. the Clash) 2) music I neither like nor respect (U2) 3) music I respect but don't like (most jazz) and finally the big number 4) music I like but don't respect.

That fourth category is the subject of this COUGHweeklyCOUGH feature on Dabysan in Hammersmith Palais. It comprises a shockingly large catalog of music. As it turns out there's a heck of a lot of music I love in spite -- or perhaps even because -- of how little esteem I have for it.

The reason I mention this is that I'm not entirely sure that this song belongs in that fourth category. I'm still holding out hope that it might be genuinely good and make its way into the hallowed halls of category #1, but I'm doubtful. I think when all is said and done it will belong right here with its shabby brethren in category #4. The thing that I find the most immediately vexing about this song was that I "discovered" it by watching a fucking iPod commercial. For someone who prides himself on having an ear to the UK musical underground, that's a tough pill to swallow.

The band is "The Fratellis." The song is "Flathead," and I can't stop listening to it (on my iPod, naturally).

The Fratellis - Flathead

Pitchfork has already decided to savage this band, as has Drowned in Sound, and I may end up realizing that there's not much to them, but for now, this is the hottest track I've heard in awhile and I'm eagerly awaiting the U.S. release date of the album.

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I love this song! They've been playing it on The Current for months now. It's nearly the most addictive thing ever (first would be The Kooks' She Moves in Her Own Way).

What I want to know is the band named after the bad guys from the movie The Goonies?

Also, I just remembered that this is the song in the new iPod commercials, so I am sure hotrod will love it so.

Hotrod will almost certainly hate it. But he's narrow-minded like that. And no, they're named after the lead singer, whose surname is apparently "Fratelli." Though I think they may be doing a Ramones/Donnas thing and all going by it.

Yeah. That Kooks song was just stupendous. I have you to thank for catching onto them. They're coming to my town I believe. I'm definitely going to go.

I have to say it would be much cooler if they were named after the bad guys in The Goonies. Also, I am going to go check right now to see if my beloved Kooks are coming to MPLS.

yeah, this is most definitely a pile of shit.

see also: the kooks, kings of leon, arctic monkeys, babyshambles, the strokes, the darkness, scissor sisters, kaiser chiefs, the libertines, chumbawumba and every other piece of shit UK flash-in-the-pan band since the beatles.

i don't hate this song because it's the new voice of ipod. i hate ipod because i chooses shit like this to represent its' consumers. fuck ipod, and fuck you.

oh hotrod, your predictability is so cute it warms my heart.

i'm predictable, i guess, in that i like music that doesn't suck balls.

See. Told ya. I saw that one coming a mile away. Oh, and the Libertines are unappreciated geniuses. Their first album is better than everything Pavement ever did, ever.

i own that record - on daby's recommendation, no less. it's fucking terrible. if any random reader wants advice on what music not to buy, this is definitely the blog of choice.

Is Up the Bracket the first one? Because that record is awesome.

Is hotrod an old fuddyduddy stuck in a younger man's redheaded body?

Well you're clearly one of the many mouth-breathing troglodytes who is failing to appreciate their genius.

And I could swear I've heard you profess an affection for the Strokes (who aren't fit to carry the Libertines syringes)

That's the one. And it is awesome. Great minds think alike...and then there's Hotrod.

i don't appreciate their "genius" because they, um, don't have any. "up the bracket" is pedestrian, at best.

the strokes are okay, but everyone knows they were a flash in the pan. they just happen to have been the brightest flash.

For me, this is a Category 2. I can respect The Fratellis way way way more than that joke of a band called U2 or Billy Joel. But at the same time, you won't see me owning any of their material.

I won't argue with the Storkes flash-in-the-panness, however I don't think that takes away from the goodness of their first album (their live show, though, left a lot to be desired).

Do you not like rock and roll hotrod, is that your problem?

Well Hotrod, the Cap'n agrees with you. That's something.

i don't sell any CD's back. i still have shit from high school that i couldn't give away.

had i been stupid enough to purchase that libertines shit other than digitally, it would have had the distinct dishonor or the first CD i couldn't bear to keep. while you're feeling all proud of yourself for supporting that dougherty shithead's smack habit, keep in mind: i would rather (and proudly, for that matter) display and extreme CD on my shelf than the libertines. they're terrible. and apple has warped your brains.

fuck cap'n crunch. fuck jodi. and fuck you. none of you are allowed to talk about music anymore. you clearly know nothing.

But the Cap'n agrees with you. Surely that counts for something. Someone needs a hug.

HR, take care of that IOD. It's back again. But I am in partial agreement with you. But isn't a little hypocritical of you to accuse the other 2 of "supporting that dougherty shithead's smack habit?" Hello...Johnny Cash anyone?

Ha! I love when you get all upset and tell people to fuck off. It's my favorite.

I would argue that I know a lot about music, I've been listening and studying for years. I even took a Rock and Roll class this summer with special guest lecturers from Husker Du and Prince's Revolution (and New Power Generation). So I am a certified Rocknrollologist.

Okay, you can diss on Billy Joel (my first favorite 'band' ever) but you gotta leave Johnny out of this. Is there nothing sacred?

Oh yah. Johnny Cash (yes I'm a fan...maybe not on the level that HR is, but I am) was as clean as a whistle. Johnny Cash, Lou Reed, John Lennon, Nick Cave, Pete Doherty. What do they all have in common? That's right.

hotrod replied to Cap'n Crook’s comment:
Feb 28, 2007
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yeah, crunchy - i saw doc's post earlier. i ignored it because it doesn't apply to me. i'm not insecure. in fact, i have never made any claim with more certainty that that i made earlier: most of those bands i listed in my initial comment are terrible and therefore utterly worthless. those include both the fratellis (at hand) and the libertines (which have been the subject of some discussion). the strokes were also mentioned as a good, yet vacuous example of the genre.

the difference between cash/lennon/cave/reed and dougherty is that the aforementioned overcame their addictions with talent and pete, well, didn't.

Heroin is a nasty drug. A heroin addiction is a vile habit. But it has been proven repeatedly that it is no real obstacle to an excellent career in rock and roll. The Libertines were responsible for the most vital, exciting rock in a decade and anyone who appreciates music that has any balls knows it. For the rest of you (hotrod) there's wimpy chamber-folk drivel like Sufjan Stevens.

Okay now Daby, put the smack down and step away from the Sufjan. There are intelligent ballsy people who can appreciate the vitality of The Libertines AND the sweet charms of soft Sufjan folk.

What's wrong with y'all? You got no depth. It's all black and white, hard rock or chamber music. Can't you develop an appreciation for them both?

I think what Sufie (that's my pet nickname for him) is doing is no less exciting than the Libertines.

Barf, I can't stand Sufjan, singer-songwriter alt-indie-honkytonk bedtime music.

I declare that this Fratelli's song doesn't suck and it's not shameful to like it. I doubt they'll go anywhere, but there is a solid place in musical history for one-hit-wonders and flashes-in-pans. Music doesn't have to be meaningful or even lasting to be great. Come to think of it, there are quite of lot of things like that.

shades of gray don't make for interesting arguments. QED.

i declare that while your greater point about one-hit-wonders is sound, you're way off base on this particular song. i'm not surprised you like it, though. it was blessed by the only successful divsion in history of the corporation that steve jobs built: the marketing department. these are things i can set my watch by. "appleappleappleappleapple. appleapple. appleappleappleapple"

And I agree akai, which is why they earned a spot in the coveted Guilty Pleasure of the (cough) Week. Silly, fun music.

which record, exactly, was the one that was "the most vital, exciting rock in a decade?" because it wasn't either of the records i have heard.

Well we've already concluded that you're one of the countless hidebound, close-minded estalishment thugs that fails to grasp their greatness.

and you have still failed to provide proof of this alleged "greatness."

Note that I did not say that I liked the Fratelli's song, only that it doesn't suck. There's definitely something interesting there but I'd need to listen to it a few more times to decide, and I dunno if I can be bothered to do that.

I love how you get the rap for the most narrow-minded music snob, when more often than not it should go to me. I s'pose the difference is that I keep my disdain to myself.

I like the Fratellis song. In fact, I may love it. I'm just not sure that its good. But I am sure that I don't care whether or not its good.

I don't think a song has to be good for you to love it. In fact sometimes it's fun to love a bad song (see: My Humps by The Blackeyed Peas) for reasons that you can't even begin to explain. It's the magic of music, it makes you feel things you never expected and cannot predict.

Agreed. Which brings us back to the whole purpose for Guilty Pleasure of the Week. Highlighting bad music that is worthy of our love.

sure. but this song is not worthy of love.

Maybe not, for people dead from the waist down!

Hear, hear.

Ah. So that's why cover bands must play Bon Jovi and Def Leppard music all the time. Thanks for the explanation, Super G.

Crunch are you drunk? I have no idea what you're talking about.

seriously, crunchy. what's the deal?

Jodi, have you heard "Chelsea Dagger?" I like it almost as much as "Flathead."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPUZqcibh4E