Once upon a time, SPIN picked Nirvana's Nevermind as the second-best album of 1991. Nevermind was clearly a great and important record, but as far as the SPIN editors were concerned, it couldn't quite compete with Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque. Bandwagonesque was the Scottish power-poppers' third LP, so they were already established, and they were at their peak as critical sensation. At least in the UK, they went on to make some actual commercial hits from there. While they never achieved Nirvana levels of renown, Teenage Fanclub are absolute legends within their field, and they never stopped moving forward.
Teenage Fanclub have been independent for more than 20 years now, and they've quietly cranked out a series of excellent records on Merge. Their most recent LP was 2023's Nothing Lasts Forever. Since then Teenage Fanclub members have assisted on records from people like Kim Deal, Hurry, and Joe Pernice. This fall, they'll release Do Not Dare To Dream, their 13th studio album. They recorded it on Great Bernera, an island in Scotland, and they made use of the church organ that they found there.
Lead single "Day In The Sun" is a fine example of how these guys just casually crank out excellent old-school pop nuggets like it's nothing. The hooks and harmonies are absolutely killer, and Teeange Fanclub deliver them with calm gravitas, like it's an old folk song. Below, check out the video, which director Donald Milne filmed at that Great Bernera studio, as well as the tracklist for Do Not Dare To Dream.
TRACKLIST:
01 "There Was You"
02 "Tomorrow People"
03 "Over And Over"
04 "Be With You Tonight"
05 "The Same Air"
06 "I Do Not Dare To Dream"
07 "Take Time"
08 "Day In The Sun"
09 "Somewhere To Land"
10 "Young And Wise"
Do Not Dare To Dream is out 10/9 on Merge. Pre-order it here.
