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TEENAGE FANCLUB

Teenage Fanclub

Bandwagonesque - National Album Day 2023 Edition

    Bandwagonesque is the third album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, originally released in November 1991 on Creation Records. The album gave the band substantial US success when the single "Star Sign" reached number four on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, becoming their biggest hit in that country, with "What You Do to Me" and "The Concept" also becoming top 20 hits. Bandwagonesque was voted 'album of the year' for 1991 by American music magazine Spin, famously beating Nirvana's landmark album Nevermind.

    TRACK LISTING

    Side A
    1. The Concept
    2. Satan
    3. December
    4. What You Do To Me
    5. I Don't Know
    6. Star Sign
    Side B
    1. Metal Baby
    8. Pet Rock
    9. Sidewinder
    10. Alcoholiday
    11. Guiding Star
    12. Is This Music?

    Teenage Fanclub

    Nothing Lasts Forever

      Teenage Fanclub's new album, Nothing Lasts Forever, is a beautifully rich and melodic album, the sound of a season’s end, of the last warm days of the year while nights begin to draw in and thoughts become reflective and more than a little melancholy.

      That reflection is everywhere on the record, whether on the autumnal folk rock of Tired Of Being Alone that repositions Laurel Canyon to somewhere deep in the heart of the Wye Valley, the William Blake quoting Self-Sedation or on the song that preceded Nothing Lasts Forever’s completion, last year’s I Left A Light On, where a spark of hope is kept alight at the end of a relationship.

      One of the recurring themes on Nothing Lasts Forever is light, as a both a metaphor for hope and as an ultimate destination further down the road. Although the band’s songwriters Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley found themselves touching on similar themes, it was pure coincidence.

      Raymond: “We never talk about what we’re going to do before we start making a record. We don’t plan much other than the nuts and bolts of where we’re going to record and when. That thing about light was completely accidental; we didn’t realise that until we’d finished half the songs. The record feels reflective, and I think the more we do this thing, the more we become comfortable with going to that place of melancholy, feeling and expressing those feelings.

      Norman: “These songs are definitely personal. You’re getting older, you’re going into the cupboard getting the black suit out more often. Thoughts of mortality and the idea of the light must have been playing on our minds a lot. The songs on the last record were influenced by the breakup of my marriage. It was cathartic to write those songs. These new songs are reflective of how I’m feeling now, coming out of that period. They’re fairly optimistic, there’s an acceptance of a situation and all of the experience that comes with that acceptance. When we write, it’s a reflection of our lives, which are pretty ordinary. We’re not extraordinary people, and normal people get older. There’s a lot to write about in the mundane. I love reading Raymond Carver. Very often there’s not a lot that happens in those stories, but they speak to lived experience.”

      The band recorded Nothing Lasts Forever - Blake, McGinley along with Francis Macdonald on drums, Dave McGowan on bass and Euros Childs on keyboards during an intense ten-day period in the bucolic Welsh countryside at Rockfield Studios, near Monmouth in late August. You can hear the effect of that environment on the record - it’s full of soft breeze, wide skies, beauty and space.

      One of the most striking lyrics on the record is on the closing track I Will Love You. A gorgeous seven minute almost Kosmiche acoustic daydream drone, it looks to a point beyond the fury and polarisation of our modern discourse, to a time when “the bigots are gone/after they apologise/for all the harm that they’ve done”. Looking for positives while faced with the grim realities of the 21st century feels very Teenage Fanclub - a band who’ve been a force for good for over three decades and who can effortlessly turn melancholy into glorious, chiming harmony.

      Teenage Fanclub have announced an extensive touring schedule with a handful of dates in the Summer followed by a full UK & European tour in October and November. 


      STAFF COMMENTS

      Barry says: Hazy folky slide guitar and Euros Child's silky keys, classic Teenage Fanclub melodies and swooning vocals make for one of the most immersive TF albums in years. A beautifully rendered, optimistic vision from Blake & co, and one that is a familiar as it is inventive.

      TRACK LISTING

      1. Foreign Land
      2. Tired Of Being Alone
      3. I Left A Light On
      4. See The Light
      5. It’s Alright
      6. Falling Into The Sun
      7. Self-Sedation
      8. Middle Of My Mind
      9. Back To The Light
      10. I Will Love You

      Teenage Fanclub

      Bandwagonesque - Remastered Edition

        Originally released on Creation Records, this long out of print classic has been re-mastered for the first time from the original tapes at Abbey Road Studios, London under the guidance of the band, Norman Blake, Gerard Love, and Raymond McGinley. Packaged in a faithful re-production of the original vinyl artwork and available on heavyweight 180g single vinyl.

        This is one of a series of five releases, and for each the band have also selected rarities, favourites and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl to include on a 7” with each album. These 7” singles each feature two tracks and are only available with the initial pressing of each album.

        STAFF COMMENTS

        Andy says: The Fannies' masterpiece (actually their second album, proper) exploded onto the scene in 1991, blowing away the cobwebs of bogus Baggy and insipid Shoegaze with a devil-may-care attitude and a hearty lifting of classic 70's rock riffing and tuneage. It's still amazing, and timeless today!

        TRACK LISTING

        1. The Concept
        2. Satan
        3. December
        4. What You Do To Me
        5. I Don’t Know
        6. Star Sign
        7. Metal Baby
        8. Pet Rock
        9. Sidewinder
        10. Alcoholiday
        11. Guiding Star
        12. Is This Music?

        Bonus 7”
        1. Heavy Metal 6 –taken From ‘The King’
        2. Long Hair –b-sidefrom ‘The Concept’

        Teenage Fanclub

        Here

          One of the UK's most celebrated bands, Teenage Fanclub, make their their long-awaited return with the release of tenth album, Here, released on the band's own PeMa label.

          Here is the the effortless work of a band entirely confident in their own craft - the consolidation of nearly three decades of peerless songwriting and almost telepathic musicianship amongst the band's three founder members: Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love. Recorded with the band’s soundman David Henderson alongside regular drummer Francis Macdonald and keyboard player Dave McGowan in three distinctly different environments (initially at Vega in rural Provence, then at Raymond’s home in Glasgow before mixing at Clouds Hill in the industrial heart of Hamburg), it’s a record that embraces maturity and experience and hugs them close.

          As ever, song-wise the Fanclub present a textbook representation of democracy in action, the record offering four each by Blake, Love and McGinley. From the almighty chime of opener I’m In Love through The First Sight’s ecstatic soul-search and the paean to unerring friendship With You, Here is a a collection of twelve songs about the only things that truly matter - life and love.

          STAFF COMMENTS

          Andy says: More glorious melodies (and harmonies!) from the ever-dependable Teenage Fanclub. This band thrives by having 3 separate songwriters, all different, yet all distinctly Fannie-tastic. And by going away for half a decade, their gems are perfectly formed, polished little beauties, sent to warm even the coldest heart.

          TRACK LISTING

          1. I'm In Love
          2. Thin Air
          3. Hold On
          4. The Darkest Part Of The Night
          5. I Have Nothing More To Say
          6. I Was Beautiful When I Was Alive
          7. The First Sight
          8. Live In The Moment
          9. Steady State
          10. It's A Sign
          11. With You
          12. Connected To Life

          Teenage Fanclub

          Endless Arcade

            Teenage Fanclub have announced news of their tenth studio album, Endless Arcade, released 5th March. Even if we weren’t living through extraordinarily troubling times, there is nothing quite like a Teenage Fanclub album to assuage the mind, body and soul, and to reaffirm that all is not lost in this world.

            Endless Arcade follows the band’s ninth album “Here”, released in 2016 to universal acclaim and notably their first Top 10 album since 1997; a mark of how much they’re treasured. The new record is quintessential TFC: melodies are equal parts heart-warming and heart-aching; guitars chime and distort; keyboard lines mesh and spiral; harmony-coated choruses burst out like sun on a stormy day.

            In the 1990s, the band crafted a magnetically heavy yet harmony-rich sound on classic albums such as “Bandwagonesque” and “Grand Prix”. This century, albums such as “Shadows” and “Here” have documented a more relaxed, less ‘teenage’ Fanclub, reflecting the band’s stage in life and state of mind, which Endless Arcade slots perfectly alongside. The album walks a beautifully poised line between melancholic and uplifting, infused with simple truths. The importance of home, community and hope is entwined with more bittersweet, sometimes darker thoughts - insecurity, anxiety, loss.

            Such is life. But the title track suggests, “Don’t be afraid of this endless arcade that is life.”

            A preview from the album came in February 2019 with Raymond’s ‘Everything Is Falling Apart’, an online single released at the outset of a six-month tour and a highlight of Endless Arcade.

            Everything is falling apart? Well, yes, but the song was written long before COVID-19 arrived. Neither was Raymond’s inspiration political or social, but more, “the entropy in the universe, the knowledge that everything eventually decays,” he explains. But Raymond says relax. Or rather, “Relax, find love, hold on to the hand of a friend”.

            Fortunately, Endless Arcade was virtually finished by the time lockdown was announced, bar the odd tinker under the engine hood. It seems timely, given how everyone had to initially stay home under lockdown, that the album starts with Norman’s ‘Home’, though it was chosen in part because of its opening line: “Every morning, I open my eyes...” The album’s longest track (at seven minutes) typifies TFC’s relaxed groove, culminating in Raymond’s peach of a guitar solo.

            Norman’s search for ‘home’ could be literal: after all, he’s been living in Canada for the last 10 years. But it’s also figurative. Like Norman’s other Endless Arcade songs – The Sun Won’t Shine On Me’, ‘Warm Embrace’, ‘I’m More Inclined’, ‘Back In The Day’ and ‘Living With You’ – his words on ‘Home’ are etched by loss and yearning. “Without going into too much detail, the last eighteen months have been challenging for me on an emotional level,” he admits. “But it’s been cathartic channelling some of these feelings and emotions into song.”

            In contrast, Raymond’s songs – he’s also responsible for ‘Come With Me’, ‘In Our Dreams’, ‘The Future’ and ‘Silent Song’ – are philosophical and questing. As he sings in ‘The Future’: “It’s hard to walk into the future when your shoes are made of lead”, but he’s still going to try, “and see sights we’ve never seen.”

            In the band’s own near future, they’re already planning another new album given they can’t yet tour the one they’re releasing now. Welcome back, Teenage Fanclub, unafraid of this endless arcade that is life.


            STAFF COMMENTS

            Barry says: With one of the most legendary discographies behind them, it's no surprise that the new album from these Glasgow stalwarts is every bit the triumph. Clanging guitar lines and nigh-whispered silken vox coalesce together into an oddly triumphant (the irony of the beautifully melodic 'Everything Is Falling Apart' being one of the highlights is not lost on me) and brilliantly wistful treat.

            TRACK LISTING

            CD
            1. Home
            2. Endless Arcade
            3. Warm Embrace
            4. Everything Is Falling Apart
            5. The Sun Won’t Shine On Me
            6. Come With Me
            7. In Our Dreams
            8. I’m More Inclined
            9. Back In The Day
            10. The Future
            11. Living With You
            12. Silent Song

            LP
            A1. Home
            A2. Endless Arcade
            A3. Warm Embrace
            A4. Everything Is Falling Apart
            A5. The Sun Won’t Shine On Me
            A6. Come With Me
            B1. In Our Dreams
            B2. I’m More Inclined
            B3. Back In The Day
            B4. The Future
            B5. Living With You
            B6. Silent Song

            Teenage Fanclub

            Shadows

              Teenage Fanclub reissue two more of their classic albums on vinyl – Man-Made and Shadows. Both packaged in faithful re-productions of the original vinyl artwork and available on heavyweight 180g single vinyl. 

              The band have also selected rarities, favourites and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl to include on a 7” with each album. These 7” singles each feature two tracks and are only available with the initial pressing of each album. 

              TRACK LISTING

              LP
              1. Sometimes I Don’t Need To Believe In Anything
              2. Baby Lee
              3. The Fall
              4. Into The City
              5. Dark Clouds
              6. The Past
              7. Shock And Awe
              8. When I Still Have Thee
              9. Live With The Seasons
              10. Sweet Days Waiting
              11. The Back Of My Mind
              12. Today Never Ends

              Bonus 7”
              1. Dark And Lonely
              2. Secret Heart

              Teenage Fanclub

              Man-Made

                Teenage Fanclub reissue two more of their classic albums on vinyl – Man-Made and Shadows. Both packaged in faithful re-productions of the original vinyl artwork and available on heavyweight 180g single vinyl.

                The band have also selected rarities, favourites and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl to include on a 7” with each album. These 7” singles each feature two tracks and are only available with the initial pressing of each album. 

                TRACK LISTING

                LP
                1. It’s All In My Head
                2. Time Stops
                3. Nowhere
                4. Save
                5. Slow Fade
                6. Only With You
                7. Cells
                8. Feel
                9. Fallen Leaves
                10. Flowing
                11. Born Under A Good Sign
                12. Don’t Hide

                Bonus 7”
                1. Falling Leaf
                2. Please Stay

                Teenage Fanclub

                Howdy! - Remastered Edition

                  Originally released on Creation Records, this long out of print classic has been re-mastered for the first time from the original tapes at Abbey Road Studios, London under the guidance of the band, Norman Blake, Gerard Love, and Raymond McGinley. Packaged in a faithful re-production of the original vinyl artwork and available on heavyweight 180g single vinyl. 

                  This is one of a series of five releases, and for each the band have also selected rarities, favourites and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl to include on a 7” with each album. These 7” singles each feature two tracks and are only available with the initial pressing of each album.

                  STAFF COMMENTS

                  Andy says: Teenage Fanclub finally slow up with this year 2,000 record. It's still sweet, supremely well crafted, and in Raymond's "My Uptight Life" in particular, extraordinary, but it was no surprise that this release closed a particular chapter for this much-loved band.

                  TRACK LISTING

                  1. I Need Direction
                  2. I Can’t Find My Way Home
                  3. Accidental Life
                  4. Near You
                  5. Happiness
                  6. Dumb DumbDumb
                  7. The Town And The City
                  8. The Sun Shines From You
                  9. Straight And Narrow
                  10. CulDe Sac
                  11. My Uptight Life
                  12. If I Never See You Again

                  Bonus 7”
                  1. Thaw Me –‘Dumb DumbDumb’ B-side, First Time On Vinyl
                  2. One Thousand Lights –‘Dumb DumbDumb’ B-side, First Time On Vinyl


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