Teenage Fanclub

THE Fannies have been around since before Britpop, and they can even command the respect of label mates Oasis, who definitely…

THE Fannies have been around since before Britpop, and they can even command the respect of label mates Oasis, who definitely maybe listened to Bandwagonesque once or twice. Teenage Fanclub's forthcoming album is called Songs From Northern Britain, but Norman Blake insists that it's not meant to be a Scottish Nationalist slogan, just a jokey reminder that not all bands come from Manchester or Bristol.

Onstage, the band are cool and consistent - sometimes they sound reassuringly ropey, and sometimes they hit the perfect vibe, but always they sound like they were beamed down from another pop planet, where every chord jangles, every harmony is heavenly, and every chorus puts a big, dumb smile on your face.

Mainman Norman Blake took the vocals for Neil Jung, Mellow Doubt and the new single, Is That Enough? Guitarist Raymond McGinley sang the quirky Verisimilitude and the strident About You, but it was left to bassist Gerry Love to sing the two best tunes of the night, Starsign and Sparky's Dream.

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney is an Irish Times journalist