TEENAGE FANCLUB – AIN’T THAT ENOUGH (CREATION RECORDS)
Unfortunately for me this represented the band having something of an off day, of the band really putting the fanny into Teenage Fanclub and serving as the first chink in the armour for a very long time. That said when a band is liked as much for its personality as it is for its music such things tend to be soon forgiven and an effort will be made to enjoy such a record. Not necessarily by me however.
For me the lyrics sound a bit too childish here for me. I think it is the point where they go prattling on about “toy town feeling” that most exhibits this worst. No such thing, no such place. By this stage the harmonies of the piece have already softened its emotional clout and using such imagery and terminology it suddenly feels like a full on regression is the order of the day. This almost sounds more like The Byrds than The Byrds did, the harmonies are high but they are not hard.
One day I will definitely revise this opinion.
Things thankfully improve as their cover of “Femme Fatale” follows lending something of a much needed nastiness to proceedings as they impressively add a male touch to Nico’s vocals. It is actually surprisingly far removed from the sound of the Velvet Underground but very successful in its characterisation as the band expertly paint it in their colours. Quite frankly this would have served better as the lead track.
The CD comes to a close with the track “Jesus Christ” which is a pretty unnerving song to be following such a cover and in general coming from such a formerly noisy band. Unsurprisingly penned by Alex Chilton and originally by Big Star this sounds like an all too formulaic run out for the band, one that really does not served them well. Choices made both good and bad.
Thesaurus moment: hiccup.
Teenage Fanclub
Unfortunately for me this represented the band having something of an off day, of the band really putting the fanny into Teenage Fanclub and serving as the first chink in the armour for a very long time. That said when a band is liked as much for its personality as it is for its music such things tend to be soon forgiven and an effort will be made to enjoy such a record. Not necessarily by me however.
For me the lyrics sound a bit too childish here for me. I think it is the point where they go prattling on about “toy town feeling” that most exhibits this worst. No such thing, no such place. By this stage the harmonies of the piece have already softened its emotional clout and using such imagery and terminology it suddenly feels like a full on regression is the order of the day. This almost sounds more like The Byrds than The Byrds did, the harmonies are high but they are not hard.
One day I will definitely revise this opinion.
Things thankfully improve as their cover of “Femme Fatale” follows lending something of a much needed nastiness to proceedings as they impressively add a male touch to Nico’s vocals. It is actually surprisingly far removed from the sound of the Velvet Underground but very successful in its characterisation as the band expertly paint it in their colours. Quite frankly this would have served better as the lead track.
The CD comes to a close with the track “Jesus Christ” which is a pretty unnerving song to be following such a cover and in general coming from such a formerly noisy band. Unsurprisingly penned by Alex Chilton and originally by Big Star this sounds like an all too formulaic run out for the band, one that really does not served them well. Choices made both good and bad.
Thesaurus moment: hiccup.
Teenage Fanclub
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