Endless Arcade. Teenage Fanclub

Is it possible to totally forget the existence of an album? The answer is yes. In 2016 I reviewed 'Here' and totally forgot about the album. That does sound rather ominous for Endless Arcade, but hey, I'm writing and that counts for something,

Endless Arcade kicks of with the seven minute plus 'Home'. Teenage Fanclub's rendition of The Velvet Underground. For that it is too soft a band of course, but the fact is the way the solo goes on and on does create the vibe needed to succeed. It is a slightly hypnotic opening of Endless Arcade.

Of course the alternative pop vibe with a darkness on the edges returns in its full glory on the new album. Teenage Fanclub is that kind of band that has pop in its DNA and from there can do anything it wants it with that pop. Some things have changed in the years that past between Here (2016) and Endless Arcade. Founding member Gerald Love has left the band in 2018 as he had enough of flying and touring. He was replaced by Euros Childs on keyboards, while Dave McGowan switched to bass, really replacing Love.

What stayed is the influences from 60s and 70s band heavily influenced by bands from the 60s. 'The Sun Won't Shine On Me' holds the reincarnation of Gene Clark in it. It's the kind of song you can find on Clark's album with Gosdin Brothers, whoever they were. It's pop but there's nothing joyous about what you hear. Teenage Fanclub has that way that steers it away from parties in music. Its songs always hold a hint, or more, of sadness or at best a bittersweet mood that makes the listener contemplate his own life. It's like watching a sad ending of a movie, like 'The Unbearable Lightness Of Being'. There's no going out on the town afterwards if you really got into a movie like that. Endless Arcade has this effect musically and at times that is all I need. Just listen and go with that mood.

For a band that started in 1989, Teenage Fanclub is still going strong. Don't expect anything spectacular. If anything changed it's that I have the impression that the vocals are in a lower register. This can result as much from ageing as it could from Love no longer being present in the mix. The band does what it is good at, playing sad pop songs.

I may have forgotten all about 'Here', which was my first Teenage Fanclub album in over a decade, having missed what came in between. Reading my review, I was pleasantly surprised at the time. Teenage Fanclub did so again with Endless Arcade.

Wo.

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