As the Fannies unveil their Eleventh Studio album it isn’t the Fannies of old say on ‘BAndwagonesque’ or ‘Thirteen’ nor would I expect them to be and this latest offering more ambles out of the speakers like a musical onion it offers up itself in layers rather than racing out of the traps as they once would.  More 60s San Fran alt-rock n roll than its earlier self.  With the departure of Gerald Love would we get the same level of songsmithery from the boys.

I would say that this album is striking due to its more elder statesmanlike level of energy and from a band that has no doubt matured over the years but still deliver some killer melodies and arrangements and rather than listen to this as one complete body of work I preferred to let it seep into my mind via a cheeky shuffle and bit by bit it unfolded like a blooming flower that will bloom and fall away only to return again seasonally.

Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley are the writers and their retro melodies and arrangements always make the blood pump with a fondness like whenever I hear a Kinks track or a Byrds song on the wireless.  I’m not sure where Teenage Fanclub sits these days they’re certainly not teenagers anymore but they’ve aged wonderfully as the songs like ‘The Sun Won’t Shine on Me’ will testify in its two and a half minutes of 60s bliss.   I did balk at the opening song weighing in at seven minutes but ‘Home’ builds and meanders really well as the listener gets comfortable with the sounds of a band who’ve I’ve shared a journey with most of my adult life and its cool that they’re not trying to be something they’re not and by the sounds of it totally happy with the skin they’re in and that’s making for a stronger more convincing album.  Not their best work for sure but comfortable and well worth shelling out for.

Twelve tracks with variety and some lush harmonies and twisted pop melodies from a band who knows their spot in the big picture be it gently rockin like Neil Young on ‘In Our Dreams’ or blazing a trail with the big pop hook of ‘I’m More Inclined’ or the melancholy sometimes cold and bleak surroundings of ‘The Future’  I’ll always have me some time for Teenage Fanclub great band with great songs and not every band who’s been around for as long as they have and consistently delivered the goods.

Buy ‘Endless Arcade’ Here

Author: Dom Daley