Man-Made

After a decade and a half of label switching, genre cross-breeding (who knew, back in the ‘90s, that grunge and sunny pop could be bedmates?) and trying to please an ever hungry and decidedly fickle fan base, Scotland’s Teenage Fanclub came back strong with album number eight, Man-Made. Produced by Tortoise’ John McEntire, some wondered if the band would be exploring new hybrid horizons, perhaps infusing their music with a more experimental edge; luckily for all concerned, TF stayed true to their shiny pop hearts, and turned out a neat dozen crisply executed and tightly constructed tunes sure to please the faithful. With three core members standing steadfast at the songwriting helm, echoes of the Byrds and Big Star unabashedly color Teenage Fanclub’s music; it’s as if those heavenly harmonies on tracks like “Time Stops” and “Fallen Leaves” are channeled directly from those who came before. Other stellar tracks like “It’s All In My Mind,” “Slow Fade,” and the gritty “Born Under a Good Sign” sound simply like everything you want Teenage Fanclub to sound like, and that’s a brilliant thing indeed.