Howdy - Teenage Fanclub > Reviews > Smells Like Teenage Spirit

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money

Advantages:	Melodies Waxing Lyrical .
Disadvantages:	Smiley Tunes Can Give You Lockjaw .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

If you fancy some jangle pop then the place to be is chez Teenage Fanclub. Combining Wilsonesque harmonies with fluid melodious guitar moves, Howdy! is a superb album even by the Fanclub's extremely high standards. It's effortless beauty is like suntan lotion, you don't notice how good it is until you stop using it.

It all started back in the early nineties when 4 longhaired dudes smiled out at us on MTV's Alternative Nation. As the glitter fell slowly from the sky, the epic sound of ‘Starsign' entranced us. The resulting album 'Bandwagonesque' has rightly attained genuine classic status. Along the way Teenage Fanclub have defied the odds and got even better. 1995's Grand Prix was an extraordinary effort.

Howdy! released on the now defunct Creation Records contains 12 tracks of all too rare charm. The quality is so high at the end the craving for more is quite hard to quell. Like the perfect summer day you don't want it to end. The album opens with the stunning 'I Need Direction', as close to a Byrds tune for the new millennium as you're likely to get. In Teenage Fanclub's hands this is not naked plagiarism, just a innovative slant on an old idea. 'Near You' is so powerful I get a lump in my throat every time I hear the line "I get near, but I never seem to reach you".

'Cul de Sac' has an underlying Gallic theme that almost beams you to a Parisian walkway. It floats like a cloud high above all the mundane chart fodder. 'My Uptight Life' got the nod from the Sunday Times critics suggesting that it was a hidden gem, worth the price of the album on its own. Who cares if the vocals are reminiscent of the Beautiful South's Paul Heaton. This is majestical stuff, a reminder of the power of music.

Were Teenage Fanclub a horse, they would be a thorough bred and we would be the ones wearing blinkers. If people could only make the effort to extend their ears beyond what is put right in front of them, then bands as special as Teenage Fanclub would be millionaires. Then again, if they had money Teenage Fanclub might not be as worried about the strength of their material. Instead of Howdy! they could wave goodbye to it all. So thanks Boy Band lovers, you've made the true stars work really hard for a living and given quite a few people lots of albums to cherish. Now where did I lose that plot?