It’s dead easy to list the most obvious influences of Scotland’s Teenage Fanclub. He’s read them so often, founding band member Norman Blake can rattle them off at the drop of a tam: Big Star, Byrds, Beach Boys. Pigeonholing the Fanclub’s melodic-yet-rocking sound becomes a little more dicey. Though most of the cornerstones of power pop—Posies, Flamin’ Groovies, Matthew Sweet, Velvet Crush, Tommy Keene, Alex Chilton—don’t think much of the label, it seems to be the only one that’s stuck. If they keep this up for another five years or so, Teenage Fanclub, which opened for business in the mid-’80s when Blake met fellow Scots Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love, might surpass the Groovies for career longevity, a career award that usually precedes only the obit in a band’s publicity dossier. And yet, the group’s new album, Shadows (Merge), is as vital as anything TFC has ever cut, adding fuel to the proposition that some artists come up with their best work after turning 40. Blake and Love will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with Blake.
Norman: Strathaven toffee (or tablet as it’s more commonly known) is the sweetest confection known to man. And it comes from our home country: Scotland, a country that’s renowned for it’s poor dental hygiene. It is basically made from boiling down cane sugar with condensed milk (a milk that has already been heavily sugared itself) and unsalted butter (salted if you’re old school). You can feel your teeth dissolving as soon as you pop it in your mouth. You’ll feel them start to twinge just looking at it. Sonic Boom is a fan. He told us a while back, and we sent him some. Buyer beware.
Video after the jump.
