Since their formation in 1989, the thumbnail sketch of Teenage Fanclub has been a band for the good times, trading in blissed-out, beatific, Byrdsian jangle, with vocal harmonies so close you couldn’t fit a plectrum between them. But the Glaswegian group once dubbed “the best band in the world” by Kurt Cobain would never have sustained a three-decade career, nor commanded such a loyal army of fans, without the brains and bite that temper those innately optimistic chord voicings.
Tracked live at Hamburg’s Clouds Hill Recordings, eleventh album, Endless Arcade, finds the band walking the same tightrope, with co-founding guitarists and songwriters Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley evoking autumn sunshine from their instruments, on songs that are touched by sorrow, loss and the hand of mortality. “You go through life,” says McGinley, “and everything is going to fall apart. But it’s not so bad.”
Endless Arcade is such an evocative album title. What made you choose it?
Norman Blake: “I just liked the sound of those two words together, and also the song Endless Arcade, by Raymond, which talks about our journey through life. I think we’ve always shied away from pretentious album titles. Even when we started the band, we were looking for the dumbest or least pretentious name we could come up with up. Ironically, none of us were teenagers when we started Teenage Fanclub. I think I was 22.”
What themes came up for you on this album?
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BASIC INSTINCTS
The sophisticated range of Swedish-designed guitars made by .strandberg* has lured thousands of players over to the headless side. But the company's new stripped-back Boden Essential model is its strongest play yet for the hearts and minds of mainstream players
Second String
As PRS's more affordable USA-made S2 line moves into its second decade, the series gets a revamp with - at last - USA-made pickups and electronics. What took so long?
PABLO VAN DE POEL
When a band from The Netherlands describes themselves as 'raw, psychedelic Southern rock', it may take a little cognitive processing to work out what that might mean. One listen to DeWolff, however, and you will be duly transported to the 60s for some fuzzed-out rock 'n' roll
THE BERNIE MARSDEN COLLECTION
With a fabulous collection of the late Bernie Marsden's guitars, amps and other highly collectable music gear going under the auctioneer's hammer on 11 June, we were thrilled to have the chance of a sneak preview
LENNY KRAVITZ
Some 35 years since the release of his debut LP, for his 12th record, Blue Electric Light, Lenny Kravitz is back again with equal doses of vigour and vibes, using vintage guitars and the purest valve amps
GEORGE VJESTICA
You may not know him at first glance, but the work of Stoke-on-Trent native George Vjestica has probably impacted some of your favourite albums and movies
DICKEY BETTS
Emerging from the shadow of Duane to write signature hit Ramblin' Man, the Allman Brothers guitarist was a hard-living pioneer of Southern rock
NICK GUPPY
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our highly valued amplifier guru, who died suddenly in April
Lucky Break
Alex Bishop blends old wood with new in an attempt to fix a severely damaged guitar headstock
Tones Behind The Tracks
Cedric Burnside learnt at the knee of his fabled grandfather, but his latest album is a hill country blues masterclass on his own terms