Teenage Fanclub - Nothing Lasts Forever

Released: 22/09/23

My indelible love of Teenage Fanclub began way,wayback. In 1992, as a schoolboy I saw them play at Leicester University; for their final encore they played Everything Flows', from 1990'sA Catholic Education(still one of my favourite albums of all time), for which they were joined on stage by their support bands, Superchunk and The Posies “ and if memory serves, Don Fleming from Gumball (who also produced The Fannies' God Knows It's True' single). Incredible stuff. Like every other self-respecting indie kid at that time, I lost my shit overBandwagonesque(1991), and thenceforth they have always been one of the sacred few groups that I listen to with as much reverence now as I did when I was 12. The same cannot be said for Midway Still, Mega City 4, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Kingmaker, Scorpio Rising ¦ 

And so every new Fannies release is a happy one indeed, andNothing Lasts Foreveris yet one more argument for the Glaswegians' place on any sane list that enumerates the best Scottish acts of all time. The group's uncanny ability to synthesise the traits of other (mostly US) bands with their own unique Gaelic timbre, to make something beguilingly, strangely new, is no secret “ for example, onA Catholic Educationit wasBug-era Dinosaur Jr.; onBandwagonesqueandGrand Prixit was largely Big Star; and on 2021'sEndless Arcadeit was The Byrds. OnNothing Lasts Forever, then, it's Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young “ and what an absolute joy, and masterclass in harmonic songwriting, it is.