Friday, June 22, 2007

TEENAGE FANCLUB – THE KING (CREATION RECORDS)


TEENAGE FANCLUB – THE KING (CREATION RECORDS)

Every great band should have a release like this lingering in the background of their catalogue that stands out like a sore thumb in comparison to the rest of their arsenal.

The King is a record that feels like a band getting into the studio for a session with a producer for a weekend looking to jam out and capture a particular sound. The producer in question was Don Fleming a man whose alternative rock and grunge credentials were high having played in the fizzy Gumball and producing Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr.

Released in 1991 and perhaps best known for the fun cover of Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” the nine song album has taken on something of a negative reputation over the years being recorded/released to serve as contractually obliged recording to get them to onto Geffen Records in the USA. In the UK it was deleted from their back catalogue on the day of release although Creation still managed to press up enough copies before the deletion to make it a financially sound release.

Taken on the merits of the music however I am actually a very big fan of this record. With raging feedback the album opens with the instrumental “Heavy Metal 6” that comes doused in Stooges-esqe saxophones as the band sounds like a combination of the Drop Nineteens and Jesus & Mary Chain. The aptly named “Mudhoney” then follows with more explicit and meandering Stooges leanings and a distinct lack of vocals.

Another cover version occurs in the form of “Interstellar Overdrive” as Pink Floyd’s finest material gets the grunge rock treatment to great success. Later the most extended jam comes in the form of “Opal Inquest” that serves as a true adventure into modern psychedelia very much resembling the more abstract and lengthier moments of Mudhoney in full flow.

The Byrds and Big Star feel like the furthest things from the band’s mind as this selection of songs were ungracefully churned out lending a whole different face to Teenage Fanclub, one that has never been seen or heard since. A loss.

Thesaurus moment: outcast.

Teenage Fanclub
Creation Records

No comments:

Post a Comment