Teenage Fanclub – one of the most underrated bands in British music? Discuss.
Everything Flows? Case closed.
Teenage Fanclub interview followed by a (rather rocky) Everything Flows
I’ve been on a bit of a Teenage Fanclub binge recently. First I discovered that their early track God Knows It’s True (previously unavailable digitally) was now a download. Then iTunes decided to put the whole Teenage Fanclub back catalogue on sale and I was re-introduced to the flawed beauty of their debut A Catholic Education.
A Catholic Education is, like many debut albums, far from perfect, yet in many ways a better summary of a band’s attraction than later, more polished albums. And nowhere is that more true on the fuzzy epic Everything Flows. It’s a song that deserves to be considered a modern classic, along with the likes of Oasis’ Slide Away or The Verve’s song of the same name (both of which also came from their creators’ debut efforts).
Everything Flows is built on layers of washed out guitars, turned up to 11, over the top of which the (often in-audible) vocals sing of indecision and uncertainty. If you can imagine the epic nature of Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone with the droning brilliance of Neil Young’s best work, you might have some idea of why I love this song so much. And if you’re still not sure, just buy Everything Flows now. You’ll feel so much better for it.