King Of Prussia :: "Oh Me"

King of Prussia, the place, is a suburban wasteland near Philadelphia that doubles as the hometown of very pretty girls and America's second largest mall. King of Prussia, the historical figure, figured prominently in the unification of the modern nation-state of Germany along conservative political lines. King Of Prussia, the band, penned single, "Oh Me" as one of those love songs with a habit for symbolism that alternates between definitely depressing and maybe gross. And while there isn't a specific tie between girls, malls, metaphor and long-dead European autocrats, King Of Prussia and their brand of innocuous (this is, here, a compliment) and winning pop still manages to inspire each disembodied image. This is suitable for a band who declared their studio, during the recording of the album that contains, "Oh Me", the last part of the world that wasn't due for destruction, the last part of the world that wasn't melting. They declared a fake apocalypse, an untrue Rapture. The Teenage Fanclub and Belle & Sebastian footnotes are, however, correct. The band has sourced this all faithfully, images, style references and historical after thoughts bleeding together like pattern of the tile on the floor of America's second largest mall.

Listen :: King Of Prussia - "Oh Me"
Listen :: King Of Prussia - "Your Graduating Hours"

On The List :: Teenage Fanclub @ Bowery Ballroom [9.27.10]

This review runs on Bowery's House List blog and was written by esteemed 32ft/sec contributor and human machine, Noah.

Moments before Teenage Fanclub take the Bowery Ballroom stage, there is at least one conversation between fans in the venue that revolves around losing one's hair. It's a fitting subject, considering the band in question released its debut, A Catholic Education, in 1990.

The Glasgow foursome is touring in support of Shadows, its first album in half a decade, but the audience screams for guitar-driven anthems from years long past. Teenage Fanclub belongs to a different era, a statement that sounds like an insult but isn't. They didn't play Woodstock 1994, but they could have.

Sixteen years later, they rock for an hour and change, playing straight up, striped down, sunny tunes. Two-, three-, four-part harmonies, two guitars, a bass, a drum set, and a fifth member rotating between instruments. Teenage Fanclub mixes old favorites ("Declaw," "Like A Virgin") with cuts from Shadows ("Baby Lee"). An audience member shouts "no new stuff," but no one else seems to mind forays into more recent sections of the catalog.

The night's most charming moment comes before "God Knows It's True," a tune written two decades ago in New York City. Norman Blake admits the band hasn't played it live in some time. Then he proceeds to forget the song's beginning. On his second attempt, he screws up a chord and stops. He laughs. "It's just a B. Everybody knows a B," he says with an incredulous smile.

He shreds through the third take.

Listen :: Teenage Fanclub - "Baby Lee"
Listen :: Teenage Fanclub - "It's All In My Mind"

Teenage Fanclub :: "Baby Lee"

Perhaps the only band that can make a light, sing-song melody sound a little bit like a sinking ship, Teenage Fanclub are back with a new record, Shadows, and a new single, "Baby Lee." Sounding a touch more rural than their most recent gritty slow-burn, Man-Made, the band does their best rendition of very-nearly Jayhawks progression. The vocals have an edge of hush and the lyrics rely on candor and simple couplet. It is, however, the foundational reliance on acoustic guitar that changes the fundamentals of the sound, turning it away from the buzzing, hushing alt-rock of the band's previous albums. If you like Princeton, the chord progression is very nearly "Sadie and Andy," which was as bright a slice of pop as 2009 had to offer. Teenage Fanclub doesn't have it in their DNA to go soft, but this is certainly a sunnier version of the emotional anchor they drop through the bottom of their boat everytime the release a record. One supposes this is the song to hum as you sink to the bottom.

Listen :: Teenage Fanclub - "Baby Lee"
Listen :: Teenage Fanclub - "It's All In My Mind"
Listen :: Princeton - "Sadie and Andy"