Teenage Fanclub – “The Sun Won’t Shine On Me”
Later this year, Bandwagonesque, the dreamy and melodic alt-rock opus from the Scottish band Teenage Fanclub, will celebrate its 30th birthday. In the decades since then, Teenage Fanclub have kept marching on, and their band name has gone from silly to purely absurd. This spring, the band will return with their new album Endless Arcade, and we’ve already posted the early singles “Everything Is Falling Apart,” “Home,” and “I’m More Inclined.” Today, they’ve dropped another one.
Teenage Fanclub’s latest has the not-exactly-optimistic title “The Sun Won’t Shine On Me.” It’s a lovely down-beat folk-rock ballad with richly bummed-out harmonies and sparkling guitar jangles. Norman Blake wrote the song, and his lyrics chronicle a deep sadness: “With a troubled mind, I am in decline, and the sun won’t shine on me.” But the song is well-crafted enough that the song feels like a consolation, not a wallow. Check it out below.
Endless Arcade is out 4/30 on Merge. Pre-order it here. Also, Teenage Fanclub have announced plans to play shows in Spain and the UK this summer, and they’ll tour Europe next year, so maybe the sun really will shine on them.