RECORDINGS
Teenage Fanclub plays it soft in evolutionary turn
Back when it was signed to Creation Records in the U.K., Teenage Fanclub floated its three-part harmonies and unabashedly Big Star-like melodies atop guitars that closed the gap between “fuzz” and “noise” on the feedback gauge. In the rush of guitar-based rock that poked at the mainstream in the early 1990s, the Scottish band was a contender; Spin ranked its third album, the archly titled “Bandwagonesque,” ahead of Nirvana's “Nevermind” atop the magazine's year-end list in 1991.
Two decades later, the formula hasn't changed much. On “Here” (Merge), the band's first album in six years and 10th overall, the front line of Norman Blake, Gerard Love and Raymond McGinley once again trades songs (four each) and lead vocals over sturdily constructed pop-rock arrangements. But the band has taken some subtle evolutionary turns to where it's now a faint shadow of its “Bandwagonesque” incarnation.
This album doesn't punch; it purrs. The vocalists, never prone to histrionics, sing with understated pleasantness. The signature harmonies barely raise a ripple, so plush at times that this could be mistaken for a 5 Seconds of Summer joint. A few subdued orchestral touches surface; strings bring a little light to “The Darkest Part of the Night” and horns pepper “Live in the Moment.”
These welcome shots of texture enliven a song cycle designed not to disrupt your next dinner party. The drums are sometimes mixed so far back they're barely audible. Words of encouragement flow, aimed at midlife survivors consumed with regret and worry: “Hold on to your life, to your dreams”; “Only think about today”; “I will hide with you from sadness.”
As a mood piece, “Here” has its uses. “Steady State” is a long, slow fade spread over four meditative minutes. “I Was Beautiful When I Was Alive” dissolves into a mantra. “With You” undulates over a fragile guitar figure. It's all about shimmer and sighs, and then it's gone.
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