Power pop demigods Teenage Fanclub aren’t set to release their 7th studio album until the first week of May, but you can listen to one of the tracks over at Scenestars right now. (Or you could download the whole thing brand-new at indietorrents, come to that.)
I’m listening to the collection, entitled Man-Made as I write this, and my first impression is that it’s almost as if the past decade never happened for these guys. Their sound has gotten a bit more polished and their melodies aren’t as overtly pop, but the timeless Byrds-meets-Big-Star, fuzzy guitar sound is still all there. “Time Stops,” the track available at Scenestars, is telling in that it’s reminiscent of their very first single, “Everything Flows,” from way back in 1990. (It’s got a killer jam at the end, btw.) The other thing I noticed is that the selection is a lot more consistent than their previous albums, which had gems and rough spots in equal measures. Nearly every track in Man-Made is above average, with a fair bunch of standouts, including the aforementioned “Time Stops,” “Save”, the all-too-brief “Slow Fading Pictures” and the high-flying “Falling Leaves.”
I haven’t heard anything that’s likely to dethrone “Sparky’s Dream” as my Favorite Song of All-Time though, but maybe this is the sort of collection that improves over time. Either way, it’s easily one of Fanclub’s best efforts, so check it out.