Walsh, Ben (25 November 2016). "Teenage Fanclub, Electric Ballroom, London, review: A joyous, generous gig from the enduring, uplifting indie-poppers". The Independent . Retrieved 24 June 2022. Observer Music Monthly's top 100 British albums". The Observer. 20 June 2004 . Retrieved 18 June 2009. Much of this is due to the pair’s idiosyncrasies. McAlmont isn’t a soul singer, per se—he’s a cross between Terence Trent D’Arby and Glenn Tilbrook, a powerhouse with pop mannerisms. This suits a record that swings like the ’60s but is undergirded by a sense of New Wave songcraft: "What’s the Excuse This Time?" feels like a splice of Squeeze and Prince. McAlmont may be the frontman, but there is no doubt that this is Butler’s album: The Sound airs out his prog inclinations, with "You Do" running seven-and-a-half minutes as it becomes thoroughly intoxicated on its own swirls of strings and guitars. It’s a celebration of sound that exudes exuberance, a swagger that’s right in line with the heady indulgence of Cool Britannia. –Stephen Thomas Erlewine It’s a testament to the amount of blow being hoovered at Creation Records in the mid-’90s that, at one point, a band who released an EP titled Llanfairpwllgwngyllgogerychwyndrobwllantysiliogogogochynygofod (In Space) was bandied around as the next Oasis. And for a moment, Super Furry Animals seemed amenable to being Britpop by association, loading up their 1996 debut Fuzzy Logic with mad-for-it anthems that drew on genre-mandated proportions of ’60s psych and ’70s glam. But on their second album, Radiator , the band took the first exit ramp they could out of the Britpop rat race and began burrowing their singular path forward. To me Teenage Fanclub will always be the quintessential power-pop band. Their music is grand, optimistic, sweet and effortless. They have an uncanny way with melody, that is inobtrusive and basic enough, but won't leave the building once it's been introduced to you. The harmonies are rich, but as individual singers, they are unremarkable - but that is part of the band's easy going appeal. They're much too genuine to be complicated, and, quite frankly, too good to have to be original at all. In their music, as well as their lyrics, they prefer to say things simply, and say it well." - steinib

Magisterial ... Teenage Fanclub – with departing Gerard Love, right. Photograph: Katherine Anne Rose/The Observer Richards, Sam (3 March 2020). "Teenage Fanclub announce new album, Endless Arcade". Uncut . Retrieved 26 January 2020.

Contributors

For now, let’s focus on Norman and Gerry, up to then the main songwriting duo of the band. It’s fair to say they’ve rarely been on better form on this first half. Sparky’s Dream is arguably Love’s most treasured song, his expertly crafted lyricism and delicate exposition of feelings reaching new heights here. Lines like “need a crystal ball to see her in the morning, and magic eyes to read between the lines” were to bring long lasting comfort and happiness to thousands of fans while also proving how the band were becoming masters at writing hugely affecting songs about human relationships. In subsequent years you’d occasionally hear jokes about how going to a Teenage Fanclub gig would be a chance to spend time with middle-aged men crying into their beards. Songs like this are largely responsible. Virtue, Graeme (1 November 2018). "Teenage Fanclub review – classic lineup bids farewell with glorious nostalgia trip". The Guardian . Retrieved 19 January 2019. Bernard Butler’s last year with Suede was not a happy one, so it wasn’t a surprise when he left the band as they were completing their second album, Dog Man Star . Freed to pursue his lavish visions, Butler teamed with former Thieves singer David McAlmont on an album that functions as a riposte to the towering darkness of Suede’s sophomore record. Bright and bold, with an unapologetic debt to lush 1960s pop, The Sound of ... McAlmont & Butler is both an album of its time and somewhat out of step with it. Murray, Robin (23 May 2023). "Teenage Fanclub Announce New Album Nothing Lasts Forever". Clash . Retrieved 23 May 2023.

Raymond McGinley joined Dave McGowan's folk group Snowgoose, whose debut album Harmony Springs was released in 2012. If Bandwagonesque got the most enthusiastic response from critics upon its release, it is Grand Prix that has, of all their albums, best stood the test of time. In 2006, the band held two special concerts (in London and Glasgow) playing their 1991 album Bandwagonesque in its entirety. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDFed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p.276. Hyden, Steven (1 May 2020). "The Oral History Of Guided By Voices' '90s Indie Classic 'Alien Lanes' ". Uproxx . Retrieved 24 October 2021.Iai (9 August 2007). "Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix (album review)". Sputnikmusic . Retrieved 1 November 2021. Their final release on a Sony label, Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds – A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub, collected the Fanclub's best songs along with three new songs (one from each member). Iai (9 August 2007). "Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix (album review)". Sputnikmusic . Retrieved 5 February 2022.

Ham, Robert (31 March 2015). "Belle & Sebastian find ways to keep their music fresh after 20 years". The Oregonian . Retrieved 18 January 2019.

Shows

Belle and Sebastian (3 November 2018). "...and then there were 7! Dave just made it official and joined the band". Archived from the original on 26 February 2022 . Retrieved 18 January 2019– via Facebook. Yoo, Noah (11 November 2020). "Teenage Fanclub Announce New Album Endless Arcade, Share New Song". Pitchfork . Retrieved 26 November 2020. Grand Prix by Teenage Fanclub is now widely regarded as one of the band’s best albums but to appreciate the full significance of it and understand how it reoriented their career it helps to look at the two albums that preceded it. Bandwagonesque, their much loved third album, was released in 1991 to acclaim, famously only being kept off the top of the NME’s albums of the year list by Nirvana’s Nevermind (Kurt Cobain spoke about how the Bellshill four piece was one of his favourite bands at the time, even). The thirteen songs on Bandwagonesque had a hazy warmth, with roughly hewn, melodic guitars and endearing lyrics that would live with fans for years. Its follow up, Thirteen, was less warmly received when it arrived in 1993. It still has some fantastic songs (Radio and The Cabbage feel like precursors to songs that would appear on Grand Prix) but overall it didn’t see the band operating at quite the same level as Bandwagonesque (even the band have expressed reservations about certain aspects of it). In the beginning, being compared to bands like The Beatles or The Byrds must be a fillip for any band's prospects but, once the initial shine has worn away, it must become a burden that, if taken seriously, is impossible to live up to. Teenage Fanclub as a band have been woefully overlooked and now almost totally disregarded. The fact they are perceived as failing to achieve unasked for standards imposed upon them by demanding and ignorant media types is irrelevant. They can be relied upon to deliver consistently beautiful and straightforward pop which can be in turns wistful, mournful, and invigorating. They are one of Scotland's finest exports and deserve so much better. The trio of emotional full album shows at the Electric Ballroom in November 2018 (and in other cities around the UK) gave fans one last chance to hear it in full before Gerry Love departed the band (the physical pressures of travelling around the world with the band didn’t appeal and a series of shows in Asia proved the catalyst for him to leave – Blake and McGinley still head up the band but they no longer play Love’s songs live).