Excellent look back at one of my favorite albums of 1993. (I was one of the critics who openly loved it — pretty sure it wound up near the top of the year-end Top 10 list I did for the LA Reader, along with Redd Kross's Phaseshifter and The Boo Radleys' Giant Steps.)
Two things I'd like to add:
1) I wouldn't bet my life upon it, but I'm pretty sure I remember reading back in the day that the title of "The Cabbage" was a free-associative reference to George Harrison's mid-60s penchant for temporarily naming his new songs after various apples. Or maybe I'm misremembering that because that little slide guitar lick on the chorus is so "George".
2) I always thought that "Escher" having a chorus of "Don't know if I'm going up or down" was just another example of how low-key brilliant these guys were.
I love that you came out in support of this album back then—you were right! And I fully agree about their brilliance. Thanks for reading and chiming in. (Bonus points for reminding me about the LA Reader...that became New Times, right?)
Bummer! But, in many ways, journalism careers only got tougher after that... I remember loving the LA Reader (especially when it said nice things about my bands and my friends' bands!).
And deprive the world of your great writing?! No sir. Luckily, there are now great platforms like this that let you connect directly with your readers.
My favorite is still Bandwagonesque. I bought it when it came out, and then it spent the next 20(ish) years collecting dust. I guess I wasn't ready for it. Grand Prix is second by default. I'm not sure I've ever played Thirteen, and I definitely haven't heard anything that has been released since.
It was fun to listen to the album and read your commentary. I absolutely love Teenage Fanclub and I really like Thirteen, but it isn't my favorite. Songs from Northern Britain takes the top spot for me, followed very closely by Grand Prix and then Bandwagonesque. Their output in the 21st century has been very strong too and I'm really looking forward to the new one - it's been a loooong time since we got an album 2 years later than the previous one.
Thanks for checking it out! I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the albums you mentioned—although, if I’m being honest, I never really connected strongly with “Songs,” …but a lot of people are naming that one. Time to go reinvestigate!
The guitars don't bite as hard on the album, for sure, but the songcraft is excellent. Gerry's "Ain't That Enough" is an all timer, Ray has "Your Love Is the Place Where I Come From," and two of my favorite Norman songs are back-to-back with "Planets" and "I Don't Want Control of You."
Cool! Not sure about your experience, but so much of the music I love is about being in the right headspace when I hear it. I'm guessing "Songs" was a little too soft for my tastes when it came out, but I'm softer myself these days. ;) Maybe it's time to fall in love?
Oh, absolutely. I have plenty of albums and bands even that I didn't click with at first but grew to love. I came to "Songs" sometime after Man-Made (which was 2005?) and was already in my 30s. Loved it instantly, but 10 years earlier it might have been a different story.
Excellent look back at one of my favorite albums of 1993. (I was one of the critics who openly loved it — pretty sure it wound up near the top of the year-end Top 10 list I did for the LA Reader, along with Redd Kross's Phaseshifter and The Boo Radleys' Giant Steps.)
Two things I'd like to add:
1) I wouldn't bet my life upon it, but I'm pretty sure I remember reading back in the day that the title of "The Cabbage" was a free-associative reference to George Harrison's mid-60s penchant for temporarily naming his new songs after various apples. Or maybe I'm misremembering that because that little slide guitar lick on the chorus is so "George".
2) I always thought that "Escher" having a chorus of "Don't know if I'm going up or down" was just another example of how low-key brilliant these guys were.
I love that you came out in support of this album back then—you were right! And I fully agree about their brilliance. Thanks for reading and chiming in. (Bonus points for reminding me about the LA Reader...that became New Times, right?)
Unfortunately, yes — in the summer of 1996, at which point I and most of the rest of the Reader staff were laid off.
Bummer! But, in many ways, journalism careers only got tougher after that... I remember loving the LA Reader (especially when it said nice things about my bands and my friends' bands!).
Oh yeah, I should have "read the writing on the wall" right there and found another career. Alas...
And deprive the world of your great writing?! No sir. Luckily, there are now great platforms like this that let you connect directly with your readers.
My favorite is still Bandwagonesque. I bought it when it came out, and then it spent the next 20(ish) years collecting dust. I guess I wasn't ready for it. Grand Prix is second by default. I'm not sure I've ever played Thirteen, and I definitely haven't heard anything that has been released since.
OMG! I kinda envy you. There's is so much great music to hear for the first time.
It was fun to listen to the album and read your commentary. I absolutely love Teenage Fanclub and I really like Thirteen, but it isn't my favorite. Songs from Northern Britain takes the top spot for me, followed very closely by Grand Prix and then Bandwagonesque. Their output in the 21st century has been very strong too and I'm really looking forward to the new one - it's been a loooong time since we got an album 2 years later than the previous one.
Thanks for checking it out! I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the albums you mentioned—although, if I’m being honest, I never really connected strongly with “Songs,” …but a lot of people are naming that one. Time to go reinvestigate!
The guitars don't bite as hard on the album, for sure, but the songcraft is excellent. Gerry's "Ain't That Enough" is an all timer, Ray has "Your Love Is the Place Where I Come From," and two of my favorite Norman songs are back-to-back with "Planets" and "I Don't Want Control of You."
Cool! Not sure about your experience, but so much of the music I love is about being in the right headspace when I hear it. I'm guessing "Songs" was a little too soft for my tastes when it came out, but I'm softer myself these days. ;) Maybe it's time to fall in love?
Oh, absolutely. I have plenty of albums and bands even that I didn't click with at first but grew to love. I came to "Songs" sometime after Man-Made (which was 2005?) and was already in my 30s. Loved it instantly, but 10 years earlier it might have been a different story.