Teenage Fanclub - Guiding Star
Okay - Been on a bit of a local kick of late, but I think it was worth taking a little detour for this gem. Teenage Fanclub are back on the road, playing their first shows in the US in something like 10 years they said (don’t remember the exact number). And… Bandwagonesque! What a great record. Effortless, perfect pop. They had a few albums before this, and my BU buddy, Hugh, tried to get me into them an album earlier, but i wasn’t impressed. But then this baby came out, and… boom. I had heard of Big Star, but hadn’t grown to love them yet, so it wasn’t obvious to me just how blatantly Teenage Fanclub was ripping them off. It’s obvious now, but i don’t care. I love it.
Their first show in Boston was at Axis, touring with the Afghan Whigs on the Congregation Tour. Oh man, what a night. Also, Teenage Fanclub still had Brendan the dummer at that point - and he was such a hoot - he’d run off stage and go to the bathroom in the middle of the set. His drum kit said “Brendan the Drummer” on it, which was kind of genius. They kicked him out and he went on to join Mogwai until they kicked him out too. Apparently he’s solo now under the moniker “Macrocosmica.” Okay. At the end of the gig, all of the Afghan Whigs and Teenage Fanclub got on stage together - something like 11 of them, 5 guitars, and did a cover of… something. I can’t remember what the cover was, now, but… I remember loving it. I also remember thinking 11 people on stage was SO INSANE. This was before the big bands of indie came along.
