Jon Lawler from the Fratellis embarks on a musical collaboration with singer – songwriter and family friend Lou Hickey that, apparently, celebrates their shared love of 60’s girl-boy duets, dramatic orchestral pop, dark post war Hollywood and Las Vegas romanticism. It’s quite a broad spectrum to be working off and the album seems to get lost under the weight of these ranging influences.
The boy-girl composition suits the style of the album, Lou Hickey can belt out a song quite convincingly, particularly ‘Vanity Kills’ an all singing Judy Garland golden age of Hollywood style number and Lawler demonstrates a level of restraint not normally associated with his singing style, think Alex Turner in Last Shadow Puppets mode. Their voices work well together. ‘The Black Roses’ is a belter, with the help of a gospel choir and Bond theme stalwart Derek Watkins on trumpet, the song soars. Belle and Sebastian’s Mick Cooke pops up on ‘Nevada’ with a stunningly effective orchestral score that massages the song to a close and adds character to the piece. The boy-girl duet of ‘Like A Full Moon’ works the concept to its best possible outcome as their voices meld and entangle beautifully throughout.
The main issue with Codeine Velvet Club though is it’s not really a coherent album rather a collection of some good ideas mixed with some blander ideas. ‘Time’ as the title suggests is a waste of time, time which I will never get back and all the mariachi guitars in Mexico can’t save it from mediocrity. The album began from Lawler offering to write a song with Hickey, from this came the really rather good ‘Vanity Kills’ but an EP may have been a better avenue as the album gets bogged down with some sub standard tunes. ‘Begging Bowl Blues’ is a dubious Fratellis cast off and ‘Reste Avec Moi’ is basically just wrong, its not befitting the brighter moments of the album.
By throwing some many styles and musical influences into the melting pot, it hasn’t allowed the album to breathe and grow naturally; some songs just don’t work no matter what you blend through them. Codeine Velvet Club is not completely unpleasant but it stretches itself way too far. Approach this with caution and a neckful of codeine.
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