Grand Prix - Teenage Fanclub > Reviews > Superfunhappy Scottish people

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money

Advantages:	It makes me happy !
Disadvantages:	Songs sound the same at first

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

It’s summer! Or not quite. But it’s still really, really hot... so to celebrate, I’ll review an album of (shock, horror!) HAPPY music! I’ll say that again... happy! For a change, there are no songs about death and/or loneliness or getting over said death and/or loneliness, only ones about smiling and seeing the positive side of life.

I got this album for Christmas a few years ago, after I’d heard a few of their songs on MTV2 (yes I did used to watch it...). My Mam had suggested that I try to buy some cheerful music for a change and these seemed like they could fall into that category. The first thing I did that morning was put this on and ever since, listening to this album reminds me of Christmas. Isn’t it great how music can bring back happy memories? Anyway, back to the review...

Scottish band Teenage Fanclub appear on this album as four piece (now a five piece). Unusually, they are based around three separate singer-songwriters, Raymond McGinley, Gerard Love and Norman Blake, backed up by drummer Paul Quinn. Each writes their own songs and very rarely collaborate. You may think that this would lead to a patchy and uneven release, but fortunately, the three of them seem to be on the same wavelength and possess the same idea of the type of music they want to make. Fans may be able to tell who wrote what just by listening, but most people can’t, and probably won’t care.

Grand Prix was released back in 1995 on the now-defunct Creation label, also the previous home of Oasis and the mighty Super Furry Animals. It perfectly defines the mid 90’s, where jangly guitar music and singers that wore dodgy sunglasses were all the rage. With its summery feel and male vocal harmonies, it’s like the musical equivalent of a time capsule, but, to the band’s credit, it never feels dated. Teenage Fanclub’s scruffy enthusiasm for making music is well known in the ‘indie’ fraternity, and so is their knack of making upbeat, singalong (almost) pop songs that almost nobody buys. And that is the mystery of the band... how did they manage to avoid being stars?

The songs:

For a change, I won’t do the usual track by track, as many of the songs are along such similar lines that they are very difficult to really distinguish with descriptions. Not to say that they’re samey, just that they have the same kind of sound but with different tunes and lyrics... if that makes sense! If you’ve heard the album or any of this band’s music then you’ll understand what I mean. Instead I’ll list the tracks and then write a description afterwards :-)

1) About You (McGinley)
2) Sparky’s Dream (Love)
3) Mellow Doubt (Blake)
4) Don’t Look Back (Love)
5) Verisimilitude (McGinley)
6) Neil Jung (Blake)
7) Tears (Blake)
8) Discolite (Love)
9) Say No (McGinley)
10) Going Places (Love)
11) I’ll Make It Clear (Blake)
12) I Gotta Know (McGinley)
13) Hardcore/Ballad (Blake)

The band’s energy is on show on the feel-good opener ‘About You’, and carries on through the CD, with upbeat ballads such as ‘Mellow Doubt’, with its twiddly acoustic and “I’m in trouble, I know it” chorus, acting as little rest stops along the way. Even seemingly sad songs like this one and the piano-led ‘Tears’ are given a cheerful, glad to be alive edge by the delivery of a band who know just how lucky they are to be able to do what they do. The beautiful ‘Sparky’s Dream’ is the highlight of the album, its gorgeous harmony chorus being instantly memorable, and is one of my favourite songs. The jaggedy distorted guitars act as a perfect foil for the smoothly sung “Need a crystal ball to see her in the morning, and magic eyes to read between the lines”. Teenage Fanclub’s sense of humour is in evidence of the bouncy ‘Don’t Look Back’ where they tell a girl they’d “Steal a car to drive you home” before probably jumping around laughing and ‘Verisimilitude’ displays their intellectual side, with it’s jingle-jangle keyboard and guitars backing some very long worded lyrics that I won’t even pretend to understand.

‘Neil Jung’, ‘I’ll Make It Clear’ and ‘Discolite’ follow the same musical direction as the afore mentioned ‘About You’, with their high-tempo spiky guitar playing and pitch perfect vocals making you want to dance around the room singing, until you realise it’s way too hot and you can’t be bothered. ‘Say No’ and finisher ‘Hardcore/Ballad’ give the band a chance to display their sensitive side, both soulful acoustic tracks, perfect for lying outside in the sun and drinking cider (or drink of your choice). Remember: Don’t drink too much alcohol in hot weather or you’ll get dehydrated... random health warning there to see if you’re paying attention :-)

Similarly soulful are the other tracks found later in the album. ‘Going Places’ tells you to “Just kick my feet off the ground and I’ll embrace the sky” in a lovely chorus with what sounds like a mandolin plinking away in the background. The penultimate track ‘I Gotta Know’ doesn’t totally bulge with happiness, it’s main chorus line (“I gotta know” if you haven’t guessed...) is sung with a distinct air of unease and unsureness (is that a word?). But the guitar of the instrumental portions restores the norm.

I’d say that this album is the best that Teenage Fanclub have produced. It is quite easy to compare the individual releases as the group’s sound has changed very little over the years. The pre-Grand Prix albums, with the exception of Bandwagonesque, are comparatively weak, but the albums since 1995 are excellent. The artwork of a formula 1 car, and the CD made to look like a wheel have definitely dated, but the music has not. Who cares about album art when the songs are this good? All the lyrics are included in the little booklet along with pictures of the band members (looking a bit geeky to be honest!).

There is a best of album available in the shops, called 4766 seconds (in words!) which contains a few of these tracks, plus some new. It’s a great album to buy for anybody who likes 90’s guitar music such as Oasis and The High Llamas, or more recent bands like Cosmic Rough Riders. Also, if you have the chance to see this band live then you should, they are one of the best I’ve seen, their time making music has left them with so many great songs that almost everything they play is a classic. They also talk to the crowd, and make jokes about when they go wrong, a sign of a down to earth, fun loving band.

One warning however: Though I totally recommend ‘Grand Prix’ to anybody, it’s best not to buy more than one of their albums at a time. At first the songs may all sound the same, and need extra listens to totally appreciate. If you have too much to listen to then you can get overwhelmed and get really confused about what song is what!

Hope you liked my review :-)
Enjoy the sunshine!!!

---update---

The sun's gone away again....