Teenage Fanclub Tribute - What A Concept?

This amazing tribute to one of the best pop bands on the planet for almost 15 years now, Teenage Fanclub, is a loving homage to how pop song craft should be done. It`s going to go down as one of the finest tributes in the last few years, as well. Savor some of the proof below.

"It`s hard to pick out favorites here -- there are so many energetic and loving performances - and I`m really biased toward the songs I liked in the first place. That said, this is a most impressive collection from start to end... great job in assembling a loving tribute to some of the richest harmonic pop music we`ve ever had. Give it a listen and find out for yourself just how good and joyful that Teenage Fanclub music really is. "-Fufkin.com

"Tribute albums are always a bit of a hit and miss affair very rarely do bands who collectively get together to worship their heroes actually better the original versions of the songs they cover, which calls to mind the question why bother at all? Why not just stick with a greatest hits collection of the original band themselves? The answer probably lies in the bands involved in tribute records doing something creative enough to make the project worthwhile, while at the same time being faithful enough to the originals to maintain the essence of what made the music so special in the first place, and on that count, "What a Concept!", the first tribute to Scottish indie-cum-americana rockers Teenage Fanclub succeeds more often than it fails. The choice of tracks is second to none, with material lifted from every album theyve released, including a healthy emphasis on some of their later more Byrds-like material when it might have been easy to hark back to their indie beginnings exclusively..by the time youve reached the end of the record and the last notes of Joyrides exemplary version of "Near You" (the only track here from the maligned Howdy! but possibly the best track on the record), you realise that having other bands playing the Fanclubs music is a positive reminder to us all of just how fantastic an act they were and remain. A good introduction to newcomers and an essential purchase for Fanclub aficionados."-Americana-UK.com.

"This is a loving homage to the Scots, kicked off by Shazam`s blistering take of Bandwagonesque favourite The Concept. Other names of note include Redd Kross, who cut a fine Everything Flows, and The Gigolo Aunts, who make a lush pluck of Alcoholiday.. The What A Concept! success rate is high though. The best moments in this 24-track salute come when they stray from the course. What seems at first to be some chugging from Barely Pink (Don`t Look Back) is brought to life by an unexpected doo-wop set piece in the final quarter; while Chewy Marble`s Dixieland rhythm fro Metal Baby is a welcome innovation.-Record Collector. "A Tribute To A Tribute To The Byrds, the cynical might say, but this good-natured "salute" to the `90s Scottish indie heroes fulfils its remit in reminding you just how damn fine Teenage Fanclub`s songs are. Unsurprisingly, there`s few avant-garde mash-ups - The Shazam doing The Concept or Gigolo Aunts wisping through Alcoholiday is hardly a crazy stylistic clash - but the warm glow of fondness is plenty reward enough."-Q Magazine.
"Ooh -- so many favorites, so little time.. a long-running winner of a CD (and a great value when you consider running time and the amount of tracks).. a great job in assembling a loving tribute to some of the richest harmonic pop music we`ve ever had. Give it a listen and find out for yourself just how good and joyful Teenage Fanclub music really is "-PopMatters.

"3 stars. Listening to Not Lame's What a Concept!: Tribute to Teenage Fanclub leaves the listener with two thoughts: man, Teenage Fanclub wrote a lot of great songs and, gosh, all these bands want to sound exactly like them. It's true that TFC wrote many a classic power-jangle-indie-guitar pop tune. "Everything Flows," "Metal Baby," "Don't Look Back," "About You," "The Concept," "Ain't That Enough" -- these are songs that lift the heart and fill the soul with rock & roll joy. It is nice that all these bands, from the known (Redd Kross, Gigolo Aunts, the Shazam) to the unknown (Jet Lag, the General Store, Receiver) to the should-be known (Captain Soul, the Shazam), pay such loving tribute. They all get the plangent guitars, lush vocal harmonies, and general peaceful, easy feeling down pat, but to what end one has to ask. The versions are so identical that it makes far more sense just to listen to the band itself. The only tracks that mess with the formula are buried at the end of the disc. The General Store turn "120 Minutes" into a full-on Beach Boys circa Pet Sounds track that will have you grinning from ear to ear, while Marykate O'Neil turns "Traffic Jam" into a coffeehouse clanger that will have you reaching for the skip button. Not that doing radically different versions of songs on tribute albums necessarily makes for a good listen, but it does help break up the sense of creeping monotony. There is a reason that Teenage Fanclub records top out at around 12 songs, after all. So mark the disc down as an indulgence for TFC fanatics. For the rest, just stick to the original recordings. They are enough. "-AMG.

01 - The Shazam - The Concept
02 - Redd Kross - Everything Flows
03 - IKE - Sparky`s Dream
04 - Michael Carpenter - Neil Jung
05 - Receiver - What You Do To Me
06 - Superdrag - Radio
07 - Cloud Eleven - Aint That Enough
08 - Gigolo Aunts - Alcoholiday
09 - Splitsville - Tears Are Cool
10 - The Andersons - Fear Of Flying
11 - Bronco Bullfrog - I`ll Make It Clear
12 - Chewy Marble - Metal Baby
13 - The Mockers - Hang On
14 - Cliff Hillis - Can`t Feel My Soul
15 - Jet Lag - The Cabbage
16 - Sparkle Jets UK - I Don`t Want Control Of You
17 - Barely Pink - Don`t Look Back
18 - Marykate O`Neil - Traffic Jam
19 - Michael Shelley - Mellow Doubt
20 - Crash Into June - Winter
21 - Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings - About You
22 - Captain Soul - You`re Love Is The Place Where I Come From
23 - The General Store - 120 Minutes
24 - The Trainwrecks - Starsign

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