Album: Bandwagonesque
Artist: Teenage Fanclub
Artist: Teenage Fanclub
Born: Bellshill, North Lanarkshire
Released: November 1991
Genre: Indie Pop
Bandwagonesque is another brilliant LP released in 1991, in some eyes (but not mine) the best of the lot. Teenage Fanclub were definitely inspired by some of the great pop bands of the 60s and 70s, like The Byrds and Big Star, with their love of jangly guitars and vocal harmonies. Along with Primal Scream and later Oasis, the band were signed to Creation Records and, like those two groups, Teenage Fanclub were very much revivalists (although Bandwagonesque wasn't nearly as derivative as Screamadelica, which was essentially the Rolling Stones updated with acid house). Signing to Creation definitely coincided with a change in Teenage Fanclub's style, moving away from the heavy guitar distortion of A Catholic Education in favour of melodies, following the template of early song, Everything Flows. What I love about Bandwagonesque is the quirky songwriting, for example opener The Concept, written by Norman Baker, which seems to be about a musician taking advantage of a groupie and then regretting not being a little kinder ("Says she don't do drugs / but she does the pill").
Another thing I appreciate about the LP is the consistently high quality of songs, with highlights like The Concept, I Don’t Know, Star Sign and Alcoholiday part of a much more important whole. Star Sign is one of the best examples of The Byrds-style harmonies, and is one of three Top 20 US singles (along with The Concept and What You Do To Me) on the album. At this point, the UK music scene was very much in thrall to the new, especially the evolving dance music genre, so anything perceived as "retro" failed to catch on. This would all change just a few years later with Oasis and Britpop. Guiding Star makes for a dreamy end to the album, especially the way it fades seamlessly into instrumental, Is This Music?, which closes out proceedings. Many of the songs on Teenage Fanclub's first LP were written by Blake, but Bandwagonesque sees bass guitarist Gerard Love take on more of a songwriting role, while lead guitarist Raymond McGinley also got involved with I Don’t Know. On the band's next release, Thirteen, the trio (McGinley, Blake & Love) reached an egalitarian pact of producing a third of new material each, with the songs often sung by the writer. For a group so fundamental to the evolution of Britpop, it was no small irony that Teenage Fanclub would reach the peak of their commercial success in 1995, at the height of Britpop, with Grand Prix.
Bandwagonesque is another brilliant LP released in 1991, in some eyes (but not mine) the best of the lot. Teenage Fanclub were definitely inspired by some of the great pop bands of the 60s and 70s, like The Byrds and Big Star, with their love of jangly guitars and vocal harmonies. Along with Primal Scream and later Oasis, the band were signed to Creation Records and, like those two groups, Teenage Fanclub were very much revivalists (although Bandwagonesque wasn't nearly as derivative as Screamadelica, which was essentially the Rolling Stones updated with acid house). Signing to Creation definitely coincided with a change in Teenage Fanclub's style, moving away from the heavy guitar distortion of A Catholic Education in favour of melodies, following the template of early song, Everything Flows. What I love about Bandwagonesque is the quirky songwriting, for example opener The Concept, written by Norman Baker, which seems to be about a musician taking advantage of a groupie and then regretting not being a little kinder ("Says she don't do drugs / but she does the pill").
Another thing I appreciate about the LP is the consistently high quality of songs, with highlights like The Concept, I Don’t Know, Star Sign and Alcoholiday part of a much more important whole. Star Sign is one of the best examples of The Byrds-style harmonies, and is one of three Top 20 US singles (along with The Concept and What You Do To Me) on the album. At this point, the UK music scene was very much in thrall to the new, especially the evolving dance music genre, so anything perceived as "retro" failed to catch on. This would all change just a few years later with Oasis and Britpop. Guiding Star makes for a dreamy end to the album, especially the way it fades seamlessly into instrumental, Is This Music?, which closes out proceedings. Many of the songs on Teenage Fanclub's first LP were written by Blake, but Bandwagonesque sees bass guitarist Gerard Love take on more of a songwriting role, while lead guitarist Raymond McGinley also got involved with I Don’t Know. On the band's next release, Thirteen, the trio (McGinley, Blake & Love) reached an egalitarian pact of producing a third of new material each, with the songs often sung by the writer. For a group so fundamental to the evolution of Britpop, it was no small irony that Teenage Fanclub would reach the peak of their commercial success in 1995, at the height of Britpop, with Grand Prix.
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