Teenage Fanclub – Here (Merge, 2016)

If the hazy layered harmonic and introverted songs of Teenage Fanclub are the ones that grabbed hold of your soul … then you’re in for a deep and most pleasant atmospheric surprise, as the band has shed their volume in favor of intimacy, harmonies, and sonic riffs that will fill your listening space without knocking you back against the wall and struggling to breathe.  Here on Here, they make no bones about being quieter and much tighter, laying out three part harmonies that dance in your head, while sending shivers down your spine; and if I may be so bold, taking a page from the playbook of both Luna and The Beach Boys.

Teenage Fanclub finally sound stable and sure of themselves, dripping with liquid pop laced intoxication, seeming to make an attempt at holding onto summer for one more day, for one last hour of surf, and one second more for a summer love, before the crashing of fall washes it all away, leaving those warm days and heady nights as but a distant memory.  This set of songs bespeak clarity with a gratifying hushed-ness that waylays any notions of immediateness, preferring to linger around the edges of your mind like the last humming birds before they head south, leaving you with something not only beautiful to hold onto, but something to warm your heart as you walk through winter wrapped in scarves and woolen coats.

These are the sort of blissed out love songs that allow you to feel connected, centered, and quietly lost in a session of pure impeccable ecstasy, sounding timeless and essential with their hypnotic jangling guitars and light handed effects.  I suppose what I’m trying to say is that Teenage Fanclub have managed the feat of stopping time, and replacing that time with forever never ending dreams.

– Jenell Kesler

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