howdy and man-made were very under-produced but howdy had better songssfnb is my favorite
― buzza, Monday, 12 July 2010 02:18 (thirteen years ago) link
to whom it may concern
I have this vinyl reissue of A Catholic Education on Fire Records and it doesn't sound very good. That is, the sound is very clear, but the guitars don't sound loud and trebly enough. I don't have my CD with me so I can't find out if it's my transitional stereo messing the sound up or what.
― bamcquern, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 06:30 (eleven years ago) link
it's probably just a bad repress... those new vinyl reissues always seem to sound like garbage. And obviously it's not the world's most hi-fi record.
― skip, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:26 (eleven years ago) link
I have a Giant Sand record on Fire, but it's not a reissue so I have no comparison. A shame if they all sound bad, I like the records Fire chooses to release.
― Evan, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:32 (eleven years ago) link
http://noisey.vice.com/blog/rank-your-records-teenage-fanclub-norman-blake
Norman ranks the albums.
― ælərdaɪs (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 1 September 2016 23:14 (seven years ago) link
he has good taste in his own music!
Dumb dumb dumb is lovely
― sktsh, Friday, 2 September 2016 11:14 (seven years ago) link
I'm glad to see "Dumb Dumb Dumb" get a special mention, it's a beautiful song and a great arrangement.
― michaellambert, Friday, 2 September 2016 12:12 (seven years ago) link
Odd to read someone above describe Howdy as under-produced. It and SFNB are kitchen sink productions
― PaulTMA, Friday, 2 September 2016 13:12 (seven years ago) link
That was a great read. A Catholic Education was too high and Thirteen was too low for me. Nice to see Howdy get a decent position. Always thought that was their most underrated record.
― Kitchen Person, Friday, 2 September 2016 14:33 (seven years ago) link
Thirteen is really good. Maybe one good song short of a great record.
― pinkhushpuppies (rip van wanko), Friday, 2 September 2016 14:39 (seven years ago) link
The ranking of the top three is pretty much how I'd rank 'em. I love Grand Prix, although when I listened to it recently I was struck by how 1995 the production sounded.
There was a great advertisement for Grand Prix in one of the music weeklies.Yeah. We were with Creation at the time in the UK, and Alan (McGee) is a great friend of ours. They would spend money on random ideas. So there was a reviewer I think in Melody Maker who gave us a scathing review. He hated the band. But everyone else had given us good reviews. So we thought, “How can we stick a finger up to Melody Maker?” And what we did was, and Creation was up for this, we took the back page of Melody Maker and we had ten quotes that said, like, “amazing album” and “album of the year,” and then we put his quote of something like, “this band should be thrown into the trash bin of history.” It was based on this cat food commercial from the 1970s that said, “Nine out of ten cats prefer Whiskas.” So we took the ten quotes and wrote, “Nine out of ten cats prefer Teenage Fanclub.” It cost Creation like three grand to do that, but it was such a nice way to say fuck you!
Yeah. We were with Creation at the time in the UK, and Alan (McGee) is a great friend of ours. They would spend money on random ideas. So there was a reviewer I think in Melody Maker who gave us a scathing review. He hated the band. But everyone else had given us good reviews. So we thought, “How can we stick a finger up to Melody Maker?” And what we did was, and Creation was up for this, we took the back page of Melody Maker and we had ten quotes that said, like, “amazing album” and “album of the year,” and then we put his quote of something like, “this band should be thrown into the trash bin of history.” It was based on this cat food commercial from the 1970s that said, “Nine out of ten cats prefer Whiskas.” So we took the ten quotes and wrote, “Nine out of ten cats prefer Teenage Fanclub.” It cost Creation like three grand to do that, but it was such a nice way to say fuck you!
^ <3 this!
― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Friday, 2 September 2016 15:28 (seven years ago) link
first side of Thirteen maybe their best. The rest of it imo is mixed but with some gems.
Miss TFC with that layer of fuzz on top ca. Bandwagonesque and Thirteen
― Master of Treacle, Friday, 2 September 2016 18:03 (seven years ago) link
the fannies are an odd-band for me in that i love them but i don't find any of their albums to be an unimpeachable classic, and whenever they bring a new one out im only marginally interested.
― ælərdaɪs (jim in vancouver), Friday, 2 September 2016 18:04 (seven years ago) link
agree, even Bandwagonesque doesn't totally work as an album experience (despite my love of all the songs)
the most fascinating tidbit from that piece was that their decision to go the "harmonies" route was influenced by some american punk-grunger! genius intuition there, however
― pinkhushpuppies (rip van wanko), Friday, 2 September 2016 18:11 (seven years ago) link
it's such a defining factor of their sound, like catholic education really stands out from the rest of the discography because of its relative dearth of harmonies
― ælərdaɪs (jim in vancouver), Friday, 2 September 2016 18:12 (seven years ago) link
i.e. i haven't listened to it in ages but isn't everything flows like the only classic teenage fanclub sounding song on it? (also my favourite teenage fanclub song)
― ælərdaɪs (jim in vancouver), Friday, 2 September 2016 18:13 (seven years ago) link
"God Knows It's True" is to me what EF is to you, also kinda fits the latter TFC mold. (that is on CE, right?)
― pinkhushpuppies (rip van wanko), Friday, 2 September 2016 18:15 (seven years ago) link
no, same period tho, maybe a non-album single?
― ælərdaɪs (jim in vancouver), Friday, 2 September 2016 18:39 (seven years ago) link
yeah that was non-LP
Everybody's Fool is my favorite off CE
it's true I kinda don't think any of their albums are amazing from start to finish, but there are so many great songs throughout their catalog, it would be easy to make a v impressive and consistent box set or greatest "hits"
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 September 2016 18:41 (seven years ago) link
there is a commercially available one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Thousand_Seven_Hundred_and_Sixty-Six_Seconds_%E2%80%93_A_Short_Cut_to_Teenage_Fanclub
including the dreaded "new songs recorded for this compilation" why do people do this?
― mizzell, Friday, 2 September 2016 18:45 (seven years ago) link
to get completists to buy it for the new tracks? no mystery there
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 September 2016 18:47 (seven years ago) link
I think Bandwagonesque - Thirteen - Grand Prix - Songs from Northern Britain is an amazing run, but never got why Grand Prix was favored by so many, it's my least favorite of the four.
― mizzell, Friday, 2 September 2016 18:48 (seven years ago) link
yeah ok, it's annoying though.xp
― mizzell, Friday, 2 September 2016 18:50 (seven years ago) link
I would love to hear the "Grand Prix" album played by Oasis
― calstars, Friday, 2 September 2016 20:23 (seven years ago) link
― mizzell
I'd put Grand Prix ahead of Thirteen. Songs From Northern Britain and Banwagonesque are my two favourites. I'd include Howdy in that great run too. The two albums they've done since do absolutely nothing for me.
― Kitchen Person, Friday, 2 September 2016 20:53 (seven years ago) link
Bandwagonesque is their apex. A perfect album without filler. Great blend of melody and noise. I also love the folky bits which show which place they come from. Bagpipes have got this amazing ringing drone quality.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 2 September 2016 21:05 (seven years ago) link
A perfect album without filler.
there are at least two tracks that the band themselves acknowledge as filler iirc
― Οὖτις, Friday, 2 September 2016 21:06 (seven years ago) link
"Did I Say" is probably one of my 5 or 6 fave TF songs.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Friday, 2 September 2016 21:07 (seven years ago) link
there are at least two tracks that the band themselves acknowledge as filler iircNever trust the artist's judgement of his own work.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 2 September 2016 21:34 (seven years ago) link
#takemytime
― calstars, Saturday, 3 September 2016 01:30 (seven years ago) link
#findmyway
― calstars, Saturday, 3 September 2016 01:31 (seven years ago) link
Would be cool if ilx could hyperlink hashtags
thanks for that link, some great stuff.
This is still Songs From Northern Britain.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 3 September 2016 01:44 (seven years ago) link
The new album is streaming on NPR
http://www.npr.org/2016/09/01/491518447/first-listen-teenage-fanclub-here
― Kitchen Person, Tuesday, 6 September 2016 04:02 (seven years ago) link
I got a bit bored/blasé about them after Songs From Northern Britain - every record since Grand Prix has felt more-or-less interchangeable - and the best songs are always Gerry's. Guess I should check the Lightships record - anyone heard it?
― Chuck_Tatum, Tuesday, 6 September 2016 12:37 (seven years ago) link
there were a couple of good tracks on the lightship album, notably "the warmth of the sun", "stretching out", "photosynthesis" and "sunlight to the dawn".
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, 6 September 2016 14:03 (seven years ago) link
"Here" is good though maybe their lowest stakes album since "Howdy." I keep playing "The Darkest Part of the Night," probably because it's from the same template as "I Don't Want Control of You."
― geoffreyess, Thursday, 27 October 2016 20:30 (seven years ago) link
Also, terrific show last week. Like, one of the best sounding bands I've ever seen. Don't look to the albums for signs of mellowing.
― geoffreyess, Thursday, 27 October 2016 20:32 (seven years ago) link
#mellowdoubt
the back half of the new one feels v minor-key + meandering - I liked Shadows more on the whole
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 27 October 2016 20:33 (seven years ago) link
Same here with darkest part of the night!
Nothing here can touch baby lee, but I think I like this one more overall.
― sktsh, Thursday, 27 October 2016 20:48 (seven years ago) link
Baby lee is the worst :(
― quis gropes ipsos gropiuses? (ledge), Thursday, 27 October 2016 20:52 (seven years ago) link
lunacy
― sktsh, Thursday, 27 October 2016 21:08 (seven years ago) link
<3 that song
― rip van wanko, Thursday, 27 October 2016 21:21 (seven years ago) link
it's p good but there are better songs on the album imo
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 27 October 2016 21:29 (seven years ago) link
The First Sight is one of their best-ever songs
― PaulTMA, Friday, 28 October 2016 10:59 (seven years ago) link
So I'm loving this new one, in spite of (because of?) the 'meandering / minor key' vibe mentioned upthread. I think, in my old age, I really prefer melodic, slow-and-stoned Fannies to melodic uptempo Big Star-y Fannies. After 3 or four listens, this may be my favorite since SONB.
I love how "I Was Beautiful When I Was Alive" kind of becomes an entirely different song at the end. Agree with the highlights already mentioned ("The Darkest Part Of The Night," "The First Sight") but oh man, the last third of this record is a real beaut. Love the guitar on "It's A Sign." Actually, the guitar sounds in general are terrific.
My friend calls this band "The Fountains Of Wayne It's OK To Like"
― Wimmels, Friday, 28 October 2016 20:10 (seven years ago) link
I'm still starting every morning with this record. Definitely my favorite since Songs Of Northern Britain
― Wimmels, Thursday, 3 November 2016 14:34 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, the new album is surprisingly great. I might agree that it's their best singles Northern Britain, although I really I like Howdy.
― Kitchen Person, Thursday, 3 November 2016 14:54 (seven years ago) link
The new album is wonderful. There is hardly a bad song on it. They still have the knack for those innocent naive melodies. Probably their second best after Bandwagonesque.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 4 November 2016 22:36 (seven years ago) link
I love it on 'Get Funky' when you hear "howdy disco citizens" at the beginning. Sounds like it could be a direct sample from ABC's 'A to Z', actually!
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 20:54 (four years ago) link