Shadows ［LP+7inch］

Spin - "The objective of their fandom is youthful enthusiasm, addressing grown-up concerns with forever-young pop-rock stylings." Uncut (p.89) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "SHADOWS is full of drowsy sweetness and mellow doubt: the sound of a great group ageing gracefully." Uncut (p.36) - Ranked #23 in Uncut's "The 50 Best Albums of 2010" -- "[G]raceful melancholy prevailed..." Billboard (p.33) - "Love's '60s pop obsessions, Blake's gift for harmonic invention, and McGinley's plain-spoken way with a lyric all come to the fore as each takes his turn at the mic..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.95) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he band's famed harmony is achieved with three distinct, mutually supportive songwriters in constant rotation." Mojo (Publisher) (p.52) - Ranked #37 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2010" -- "[G]orgeously classicist....Delightful." Paste (magazine) - "Long-running Scots deliver more pop purity....The pop landscape is littered with folks who wish they could deliver one or two tracks as good as the dozen found here." Pitchfork (Website) - "The lightly psychedelic 'Into the City' ebbs and flows through tides of phased guitar into an outro of soaring Beach Boys-worthy harmonies." Clash (Magazine) - "[I]t's the chiming guitars and angelic harmonies that truly revitalise the soul. 'Shock And Awe,' replete with soaring guitar break, is a highlight."

Since 2000's Howdy!, it seems as if Teenage Fanclub's three singer/songwriters -- guitarist Norman Blake, bassist Gerard Love, and guitarist Raymond McGinley -- are on track to deliver a new album every five years. For longtime fans who remember the first time they heard "The Concept" off the band's classic 1991 album Bandwagonesque, that level of output may seem a bit stingy, but when considering TFC's consistently high-quality songwriting, no true "Fannie" fan is likely to complain. In that sense, Teenage Fanclub's 2010 album Shadows is a sparkling and reflective follow-up to the band's stellar 2005 effort, Man-Made. Released on the band's own Pema imprint in the U.K. -- Merge in the U.S. -- Shadows picks up on the introspective, world-weary quality of Man-Made but also delivers a bit of the classic bright pop the band is known for. Where Man-Made found the band struggling with feeling like life was an illusion on the dogged "It's All in My Mind," here you get Love's breezy baroque pop statement of purpose "Sometimes I Don't Need to Believe in Anything," with its chorus of layered synth, strings, flutes, and sundry wind instruments. Similarly, Blake's leadoff single "Baby Lee" is a romantic '60s-styled folk-rocker that veritably shimmers with positive vibes. Elsewhere, Love's "Into the City" is a sunshine pop/country-rock love letter to urban days in the sun and McGinley's "Today Never Ends" is slow-burn psychedelic country-rock rumination on the past, the present, and a perfect day that never ends. If the day is as sun-drenched and relaxed as the songs on Shadows implies, then may it and Teenage Fanclub go on and on. ~ Matt Collar

すでに20年以上のキャリアを誇り、<グラスゴー・シーンの良心>と称賛され続けるギター・ポップの重鎮バンドが、実に5年ぶりとなる新作を完成させた。往年の極上のメロディーと豊潤なハーモニーは衰えないばかりか、より爽やかでスウィートさも増している。サウンドもこれまででもっともナチュラルかつオーガニックだ。年を追うごとにまろみを帯びていったかのような、まさに円熟の旨味が染み出た逸品と言えそうだ。
bounce (C)冨田明宏