As a debut album, “A Catholic Education” is an understated masterpiece. It’s an album that in some ways was ahead of its time and captures the zeitgeist spirit of the lo-fi garage, grunge sound before it became popular, blending elements of the paisley underground with subtle hints of Britpop before it was even born. It’s an album that offers a neutral alliance between the underground sounds of America and the UK, that were planting the seeds for a grunge and britpop explosion. Whenever I listen to “A Catholic Education” it takes me back to a time when the world appeared a more peaceful place, a time before the internet where music was less synthetic, less polished and contained a raw and real edge that created that bona fide college band, making music in a friend’s garage.
It was a time when the Madchester scene was in full swing, that put Manchester on the map, raving from the rooftops and revelling in all its own glory. Yet when Teenage Fanclub were formed in Glasgow in1989, they seemed a world away from the city lights of anything baggy, in vogue or revolutionised by the new wave of elecro-trends. They were, and still are, a law to themselves who seemed to be unfazed to what was happening around them and without realising it gave us a glimpse of what guitar-laden music was around the corner and how it would soon make a colossal impact in the world of music . When they emerged in 1990 with their debut album “A Catholic Education”, they appeared to be a more low-key, shy, bookish breed of young men that didn’t conform to the razzmatazz of rock n roll, but instead took a more laid-back and steadfast approach to making music. They weren’t ego-centric or didn’t come across as your typical loutish rock n rollers, yet they were making music that seemed to cherry-pick the best bits of guitar-laden music and intrinsically link and fuse together, creating a meticulous package of homegrown music.
It’s an album that was born with an old soul, yet still feeling the growing pains of youth. Through the stoner-sludge vocals and raw delivery, “A Catholic Education” is an album that snapshots the awkward, clumsy side of youth, and time capsules the rudimentary yet accomplished sound of the band. Through the lo-fi modesty and multi-textured riffs, “A Catholic Education” is an album that opens up a prowess of pathways of guitar-laden music, that is tightly woven whilst holding its melancholic cards close to its indie chest. An album whose lyrics are poetic and earthy in equal measures, raw yet romantic, “A Catholic Education” sings from the heart, whilst retaining a high calibre of reserve-cool.
It’s subtle mix of many genres, “A Catholic Education” hibernates in the hills of blues, dreams from the celestial heights of shoegaze, that dips its toes in the murky waters of noise-rock. It’s an album that stands in unison and harmonies from the platform of power-house pop. It’s quietly groovy, wearing its flowery shirts in private, whilst shutting out the world. It’s an album where the songs align with youth and where the members of the band actually feel like your friends who have invited you round to jam, staying up late until the early hours of the morning. It’s an album that immediately transports you back in time, remembering the good old times and what it felt like to be young, awkward and sometimes a bit foolish. It’s very much an album weighted in intellect, angst-artistry and whose raw and rough around the edges textures, are part of its boyish charm.
With the opening, vocal-free track of Heavy metal, Teenage Fanclub showcase their experimental, free-styling finesse whose slow build-up is testament to the band’s skill at creating music that alternates artfully with the fuzzy realms of alternative rock. Through the extended interludes, “Heavy metal” streams into a “guitar-jazz” that overlaps with subtle undertones of 60s garage-psych.
As for Everything Flows, Teenage Fanclub without realising it created an Indie classic, that whirls and swirls in a sublime breeze of the lo-fi garage, whilst surfing the scrappy waves of shoegaze. It’s a signature track that highlights the band’s skilful songwriting, pensive preening that jangles in murky waters of melancholy.
Along with the track “Catholic Education”, Teenage Fanclub staggers and races in an inebriated state, full from the spiked strums of garage rock. It’s a track whose thunderous beats, choppy and scrappy riffs could have quite easily inspired the likes of Dinosaur Jr, Smashing Pumpkins, Pavement and Sonic Youth, and scatters a few seeds for a British explosion along the way.
Again with “Too Involved”, Teenage Fanclub reminds us of their diversity, subtle shifts and skill at blending an array of genres. From blues and honkey tonk, to noise-rock, “Too Involved” bridges the gap between the old and new, the classic and the contemporary, whilst creating an original sound.
With the track “Don’t Need A Drum”, Teenage Fanclub revives the rawness from their previous incarnation from The Boy Hairdressers and adds a neo-psychedelic and laid backspin, whilst soaking its feet in the farista foam.
Again with the track “Critical Mass”, Teenage Fanclub, captures the uplifting melancholy of the band, which doesn’t wallow in self-pity and instead forms a duality of vocals, a collective set of riffs that strums in solidarity, and revives from the garage getaway of lo-fi and tinny riffs.
With “Heavy Metal II“, Teenage Fanclub gives the opening track of the album a more blues-infused make-over and jangles from the remnants of the new wave. It’s a track that again creates a vocal-free arrangement and highlights the versatility and subtle changes of the album.
With the track “Catholic Education 2“, Teenage Fanclub races, rumbles and preens like a hybrid of American and British music. Like a happy–go–lucky, sanitised grunge track, Catholic Education 2 is cut from the same cosmic cloth of early Sonic Youth, whilst wearing its angst with an understated cool.
The track “Eternal Light“, beams from the lo-fi lineage of powerpop and plods in the youthful sludge of garage-rock. It’s a track that curves, jangles and preens in a Paisley Underground of swirly riffs aside the loose vocals and robust beats. Like a prophetic Prowse of pre-Brit-pop, Eternal Light arguably shines a torch on a sound that bands such as Oasis would be influenced by and which would play an influential role in the formation of their signature sound.
“Every Picture I Paint” strums in an upbeat, fast-moving, murky wave of garage-rock. It’s a raw carthasis whose vocals are delivered with a youthful charm that keeps it real and stays true to the ethos of DIY punk.
“Everybody’s Fool” is rock n roll personified whose unhinged lyrics crystallise youth and speak out to its angst-ridden generation. It’s a lo-fi, garage, noise-rock, marvel that strums in a Stoney state of soul surrender. Through the textured tones, robust riffs, and collective vocals, Everybody’s Fool is a rambunctious riot of post-punk pandemonium whose unpolished take, makes it a perfect piece. It’s a track that feels like it’s the end of the night and you are in a hedonistic huddle, feeling happy but slightly p*ssed off, whilst waiting for your taxi in an inebriated state.