TEENAGE FANCLUB

Teenage Fanclub: Francis MacDonald, Gerard Love, Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley.

Recording information: Soma Electronic Music Studios, Chicago, Illinois.

Longtime fans of Teenage Fanclub's sweet guitar pop need not fear that 2005's MAN-MADE, produced by renown experimentalist and Tortoise member John McEntire, is a radical departure from form. The band's impeccably crafted melodicism, which draws on the jangling, harmony-soaked tradition of the Byrds and Big Star, is intact. In fact, MAN-MADE, while not a progressive leap forward, may be Teenage Fanclub's most mature, focused, and sustained effort. The core trio all contribute songs, and whether it is Norman Blake's plaintive, poppy opener "It's All in My Mind," or Raymond McGinley's breezy, emotive "Feel," or Gerard Love's "Fallen Leaves," an expansive, chiming rocker, the sound is as pleasurable as ever.

McEntire's production, however, does lend a distinctive edge. Where past Fanclub albums have been relentlessly bright and treble-heavy, McEntire offers a more muted and artful take on the band's sound. Additionally, McEntire contributes keys and digital effects, creating an electronic subtext to the band's straightforward instrumentation. In many places, these treatments give the songs a mellow, soft-rock edge (note the lilting strings on "Save"); yet the Fanclub's music is so lushly melodic that the effect only deepens the experience. It seemed difficult to improve on the sunny pop loveliness of the band's previous efforts, but MAN-MADE does exactly that.

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