Teenage Fanclub

Teenage Fanclub formed near Glasgow in 1989, consisting of Norman Blake, Gerard Love, Raymond Mckinley, Brendan O’Hare and Francis Macdonald. They released their debut album, ‘A Catholic Education’, on Fire Records/Paperhouse on the 11^th June 1990 to critical acclaim, marking the start of one of Scotland’s finest ever bands.

Just every so often pop music throws up a band with a sound all of its own, leaving a trail of imitators in its wake. Teenage Fanclub sent down a demo of their first album to Fire Records and their early sound subtley plundered the forbidden texts of seventies rock and boogie, taking more than anything, the guitar harmonics and easy-flowing, almost sloppy feel of vintage Faces and mixing it with the distortion of Dinosaur Jr and Beatlesesque melodies and harmonies. A roughly recorded album for sure, the overall effect is ‘Revolver’ played with the speakers buggered, at very high volume, but tunes like ‘Everything Flows’ which does with a joyful surge and ‘Eternal Light’ remain amongst their best. ‘A Catholic Education’ is the album which best represents the Teenage Fanclub, rather than the Big Star style pop which was to follow. It is surely one of the all-time great debut albums.