INTERVIEW - Duglas T Stewart

I can still remember buying my first BMX Bandits record, 1993's Kylie's Got A Crush On Us, from Impulse Records in Motherwell. I bought the 7-inch and CD single. I was already aware of the band through my religious reading of both the NME and Melody Maker every week. Also from homemade cassettes that would get passed around. The Bellshill Beat TV show was broadcast the same year,  presented by Duglas and featuring the Bandits, Fanclub, Vaselines, Pastels, Superstar and The Soup Dragons. It was like the show had been made specifically for me. 

All of this music seemed very real, pure and honest. Especially because it was local to me. The music weeklies were fixated on Manchester, Seattle or London. BMX Bandits and Teenage Fanclub in Bellshill were just a few train stops along the Glasgow line from me in Carluke.

Over the years I'd get to know Duglas a little and eventually become friends as we would always bump into each other at shows in Glasgow, whether his own, or bands/artists that Duglas was keen to catch live and support.   

Lynn and I would go and see his latest incarnation of BMX Bandits, or Duglas guesting with bands, playing stripped back shows and at special gigs, like the Bandits 30th anniversary show at Oran Mor with Sean and Norman among the guests. One of my favourite shows was Duglas playing a tiny acoustic show with his friends The Wellgreen in The Lismore bar. Stu and Marco also had someone playing French Horn and it was just gorgeous. Duglas brings warmth and energy to every gig he plays, no matter the size. He loves to sing, perform, share stories and also play cover versions to show his love and taste for music, and turn people on to music they might not have heard before. 

Duglas and BMX Bandits have featured in my blog regularly over the years. I also recorded a podcast with Duglas back in 2016 for his bands 30th anniversary! It's a fond memory. We sat on a bench in Glasgow Green, eating ice cream in glorious sunshine discussing music and Duglas chose some songs to play. Check it out.

I was delighted to learn that a new BMX Bandits compilation album, 15 Big Ones, is being released to mark 40-years since they launched into the world with debut single E102 on Stephen Pastel's 53rd & 3rd Records. Doesn't time fly?! 

15 Big Ones is out on 27th November, as a single LP, or you can get your hands on a limited edition double vinyl version with bonus songs. ORDER from Monorail BMX Bandits have also announced a full band matinee show at The Hug & Pint on Saturday 14th November. TICKETS HERE

Duglas very kindly answered some questions and created a wonderful playlist. Oh ... and there might even be a couple of exclusives on what is coming up next for BMX Bandits ...

If you could go back in time to one moment or show in BMX Bandits history, what would it be, and why?

To quote one of our songs, "Go back, I can't go back. Go forward, I must go forward." I don't know if I want to go back, I think it would be too painful to find myself younger and full of hope with endless possibilities in front of me. But not wanting to be a spoilsport I'll play along with the idea and choose our first full band show in Tokyo at the club Antiknock in Shibuya. Looking out at the audience and seeing love there.

You have an incredible knowledge of music and superb taste. Could you create a tracklist for a 15-song compilation album of your favourite music? What would you call it?

I would call it 15 Loved Ones. I think of songs as being like friends that I can turn to when I need them to make the world feel better or to understand how I am feeling or soundtrack the good times and difficult days. So they feel like loved ones, that are precious to me. I’ve made you my 15 Loved Ones playlist and made it a selection of songs that have been important to me personally and also massively influential on BMX Bandits music over the last 40 years. Of course there are many others that I could have included.

On Spotify : On Apple Music: 

1. The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Robert Mellin and Gian Piero Reverberi

2. I Saw The Light by Todd Rundgren

3. I Never Dreamed by The Cookies

4. Break Away by The Beach Boys

5. Watch What Happens by Chris Montez

6. Who Do You Think You Are by Jigsaw

7. Storm in a Teacup by Lynsey De Paul

8. The Sunshine After The Rain by Ellie Greenwich

9. Someday Man by Paul Williams

10. Baiba Bimba by Tenniscoats

11. Schweden Espresso by Sofie Royer

12. Bye Bye Barbie by Daniel Johnston

13. Casaco Marron (Bye, Bye, Ceci) by Evinha

14. Metti una sera a cena by Enrico Morricone

15. Something Big by Burt Bacharach

How do you feel when new bands coming through (like The Cords / Fatale) cover your songs, come to your shows and highlight how much they love your music?

It means a lot of course. I think of it being similar to when we got to meet people like Alex Chilton or Evie Sands or Chip Taylor and became friends. Of course the gap between us in the 1980s was just around 20 years,,which felt a huge length of time to us then. The gap between us and Supersun, The Cords and Fatale is almost double that in time. It’s a bit like us doing Mills Brothers or Bing Crosby stuff, rather than The Velvet Underground and Bacharach & David songs. I remember seeing The Cords perform the BMX Bandits song I Wanna Fall in Love when I first met them and it sounded so beautiful to me. It was very emotional for me thinking that this song Francis Macdonald and I had written years before they were born had made a connection with them and that they would want to perform it. Since then we’ve actually had Eva perform it live with us a couple of times. She sings it so beautifully.

Francis and Duglas

BMX Bandits has featured many members over the years. Is there anyone you would have liked to join (or guest with) the band for a while?

BMX Bandits and me out with BMX Bandits have been lucky enough to work with people who would have been on that list. I got to co-produce Alex Chilton,with David Scott and his widow said it was one of her favourite recordings by him ( a cover of the Beach Boys song I Wanna Pick You Up). We had Evie Sands in the studio doing backing vocals on a track on our album Bee Stings and we got to be her backing band for a live show and a radio session. One of my more contemporary musical heroes Saya from Tenniscoats produced a BMX Bandits track that I recorded at her home in Tokyo. Jowe Head from Swell Maps and the TVPs was one of the people who inspired us to start making music and we've collaborated several times. So a lot of musicians that I would have otherwise said have already done it. So I am now thinking fantasy and both of these people are sadly dead and so these choices will have to remain in the realms of fantasy. 

Chloe and Duglas

A key part of so many of the records that I love are the arrangements and I've always paid great attention to what's going on with that aspect of pop music, paying attention to the choices of instruments and sounds in a recording, strings, woodwind, brass and other stuff. A lot of these records are from the 1960s and '70s. 

There are two arrangers that I wish that I could have had the chance for them to work on some of my music and they are Arthur Greenslade and Nick De Caro. Arthur did the arrangements on some of my favourite recordings by artists including Serge Gainsbourg, Rod McKuen, Vashti Bunyan, Twice As Much, Del Shannon and my favourite 1967 David Bowie stuff like When I Live My Dream and Love You Till Tuesday. Nick De Caro was involved in a lot of those early mellow pop records on the A&M records for artists like Chris Montez. Harpers Bizarre, Claudine Longet, Roger Nichols & The Small Circle of Friends. He also worked on Here You Come Again for Dolly Parton and Andy Williams hits like I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You and Music To Watch Games By. 

If I was out buying second hand record shopping or buying cool sixties and seventies CD reissues in Japan one of the first things I'd be looking at was who was the arranger on the albums and if I saw Nick De Caro or Arthur Greenslade's name on there I would probably take a chance on it. So those are the guys I wish I could have worked with. There is also a beautiful Nick De Caro album called Italian Graffiti. where he sings and arranged the tracks and also go find his solo recording of Caroline No. I think it's greater than The Beach Boys version from Pet Sounds.

What has it been like to reflect on your 40-year discography? Did you 'rediscover' any songs that you hadn't listened to or played live for a while? (or forgotten about!)

Some of the songs have very strong emotional ties to people, times in my life and places that are gone now and it can sometimes feel a little raw hearing some songs for that reason. But unlike some of my friends who are in bands, I generally really enjoy listening to my own records. I don't do it all the time but I have friends who would never listen to their own work, they hate hearing it. I find that odd. Sometimes I will hear a track and I am surprised by it and it can sound better to me than I remembered it. I hadn't listened to some of the Creation Years stuff for a while and hearing Gettin' Dirty and our version of Jonathan Richman's That Summer Feeling again felt very pleasing. 

Norman and Duglas

On most of our albums the tracks that ended up being singles aren't my personal favourites and due to the nature of this release there's some of the tracks that I am proudest of in our history that couldn't be included here. For instance, I think Still from BMX Bandits in Space, How Not To Care from BMX Bandits Forever and A Missing Front Tooth from My Chain are among our very best work but they didn't seem to fit in with this release ...but hopefully listening to our 15 Big Ones will encourage people to dig deeper.

What next for BMX Bandits?

We plan to release a new album in 2027 and have already one track recorded for that. I don't have a title for it yet, which is unusual for me. There's been a few albums that the first thing I've had before any songs is the album title and the title has helped steer the direction/ narrative of the album. 

I am doing a book that should be out hopefully around late Summer 2027. It's not an autobiography, it's a collection of essays about writing and recording some key BMX bandits tracks over the last 40 years. There is also a BMX Bandits stage musical in the works, it's not about BMX Bandits but it was inspired by our music and features a bunch of our songs. I went to the first read through a few months ago in my old home town of Bellshill and that was a lovely experience.

Chloe, Finlay and Duglas

I Think That I Might Love You

 

I Think That I Might Love You is my sister Carla's fifth solo album. When you add in the TeenCanteen and Poster Paints albums, she has built up quite a discography since the summer and fall of 2016 when she released debut album Homemade Lemonade (originally under the guise of Ette) and Say It All With A Kiss (TeenCanteen) in quick succession.

This, at least for me, is Carla's best album. It's warm, melodic, there is lots of space, it's beautifully produced, sounds lovingly organic, great people play on it and it's Carla's first album since she started playing guitar. 

Carla and her amazing band play The Rum Shack in Glasgow on Friday 29th May - Tickets For further dates in London, Leeds and Manchester visit carlajennifereaston.com/

Read on for a feature length review and some words from Carla.

Carla - It started with a 'f*ck it' flight to Nashville. 

I'd been told about 'fuck it' flights. When everything is broken, and you have nothing left to give, you do something entirely for yourself. A selfish act, if you will. 

You point to a place on the world map that you've always wanted to go but held yourself back from, and you go. You worry about the cost later. The immediate place that came to my mind was Nashville.

Trips to the Stax Museum, Third Man Records, borrowing equipment, playing the Bluebird Cafe, recording demos, riding electric scooters round town, hanging with old friends from Banff Arts Centre ... the 'f*ck it' trip was productive! 

Carla - I left Nashville whole again, with voice notes and notebooks that held the beginnings of new songs. Those songs became an album.

Working on ideas with friends in Glasgow and online with friends from further field, Carla created an album. Meeting so many amazing women through Since Yesterday, her award winning documentary led to Carla picking up (and learning) the guitar.  There was only one person Carla wanted to produce the album - Howard Bilerman; friend, mentor and producer of her Impossible Stuff album. Amazingly, Howard was up for flying over to produce the album in CHEM19! What a guy!

I was fortunate to enjoy an early morning game of tennis at the Gorbals with Howard and visit the studio a couple of times during his time in Scotland. His relaxed attitude and ability to create the right atmosphere to capture performances was remarkable. Howard has a fantastic ear for sound.

It's not often you play tennis with a Grammy nominated producer ... in The Gorbals Leisure Centre!

CHEM19 was booked for a week and the band literally ran through each song a couple of times before Howard hit record. A couple of times, he hit record on second play.

As a result, there is a beautiful freshness throughout the whole album, whether it's the zip of Oh Yeah, or the melancholic glow of You Might Be The Sun. 

Carla - This album is friendship. And community. It's celebrating, remembering, and letting go all at once. It's all those connections that surround us all the time if we just open ourselves up to seeing them.

Oh Yeah bursts immediately into life, it's bittersweet power-pop ache in under 2-minutes. Carla and band lost in the music.

Carla - Oh Yeah is the sound of loving someone who doesn’t quite love you back, of giving anyway. Knowing the cost and paying the price with a defiant smile. Beauty with a bruise underneath. Reaching outward, leaning forward, heart wide open, and hoping to be caught.

It’s not bitter, it’s brave, letting yourself glow for someone even if they are half a step away. Big Teenage Fanclub guitars, huge strings, harmonies stacked like confessions you never quite say out loud. It’s standing in your bedroom, heart pounding, replaying voice notes that don’t say what you hope they will, and still pressing play again. 

If Oh Yeah bursts into life, Red Kites In The Sun pulses beautifully, building to the chorus that gave Carla the album title. Stevie Jackson from Belle & Sebastian add harmonica, and all of a sudden things are driven by a pounding Motown beat.

There is more urgency with Never Really Wanted To Say which transcends towards the heavens, with sublime string effects lifting the chorus.

Older

Doesn't mean I'm wiser

I keep falling

In and out of love

Pillars Crash Down is gorgeously melancholic, but with real fire. A warm melody, one of Carla's finest vocal performances. I love the line; 

We walk together, the radio playing

But it was never our song

Pounding drums kick in for the chorus that ends with optimism;

There'll be another summer that calls, me around

Then there is a breakdown (below) that leads back to the spine tingling chorus with that glorious tinge of hope in the final line.

A tonne of feathers is still a tonne

So I'll fly

Alone

Away, from you

Away, from you

Although this is a guitar led album, there is room for deliciously sugary and gooey synth pop in the shape of Let's Make Plans For The Weekend. What a delight! I first heard this when Carla played a show for Tiny Changes at the Old Hairdressers and it was a blast. Brilliant pop music. Loads of hooks, I mean listen a few times and count them! Humour, cheek and the honest reflection on how good it is to go out dancing with friends on the weekend.

The double chorus is sensational pop;

So lets make plans for the weekend, weekend

Take my hand tell me what you're scheming

Everybody drinking, no sleeping

Friday nights were made for feeling

Up all night and my heart is racing

Reach that high that we're always chasing

Chemical reaction, so amazing

Me and you are trouble making

And I love this section;

We don't care, we don't care anymore

If we're out there, we're out there on the floor

Carla - I love this song so much. I knew the album was leaning more toward guitar indie-pop, but I couldn’t NOT include this. My friend Pedro Cameron (Man of the Minch) and I wrote and demoed it in two hours; we’re both massive fans of Kylie Minogue and Girls Aloud. We wanted to write something that celebrates friendship, dancing, and that feeling you chase every weekend after a hard week. 

It’s the token synth-pop banger on the album, the guilty pleasure, the one that gets you dragging your friend onto the dancefloor.

You Might Be The Sun is all stripped back, gooey, romantic, reflective ... One of Carla's most beautiful songs? At the time of writing, I very much think so. 

I know you didn't mean it when you took all of your light away

I guess I'll never see it but I feel the glimmer anyway 

Really, Really, Really, Really Sad is a co-write with Darren Hayman and Carla's love of 60's girls groups shines brightly. Vivid imagery topped with a catchy and sugary chorus. 

Lift Your Head Up Kid has all kinds of Juliana Hatfield with The Lemonheads moments of wonder, warmth and wistfulness. 

Start It Again also oozes warmth, reflection and advice. The sound is absolutely spot on - band, producer and studio all working in complete harmony. Blissful.

Don't wait until the right time

It can take a lifetime

Moth To A Flame is one of my favourite songs from the album. I love the melody, the imagery, the way the backing vocals come in for the no they don't, no they don't, no they don't section. The strings are beautiful

Like moths to a flame

I'm sometimes seeking out the pain

If You Found A Thread is a gorgeous closing song, the guitars chime at times and there are echoes of George Harrison as the song closes as Carla sings I'll wind my way back to you.

Carla - The song my friend and I wrote together in Nashville, the song that began this journey, holds that feeling more than anything.

A personal memory from just before Carla recorded the album;

Back in October 2024 Carla played a show at Cottiers Theatre in the West End of Glasgow, supporting Norman Blake. It was just Carla and her great friend Paul Kelly on guitars. They ran through the songs that they were going into CHEM19 with and I was blown away. After Norman's show we went through to the bar and drank whisky - something I very rarely do. But I was in the mood for a catch up and happy on the high of live music, so Carla chose a nice whisky - mainly because she was choked with the cold - and we had a couple, or was it three?! Anyway, it was lovely to just chat about music. The excitement of Howard coming over, going into CHEM19 for the first time, her friends coming to play on the album and the forthcoming Since Yesterday Glasgow premiere. It was all going on! So I love this happy (whisky fuelled) picture of the two of us from that night in Cottiers.

Sparky's Dream

Trust me #95
Sparky's Dream by Teenage Fanclub

Teenage Fanclub released the pure sunshine bubblegum power-pop rush of Sparky's Dream 30-years ago, in May 1995. Perfect timing ahead of what was a lovely, warm and hazy summer. I wonder how many times I've listened to the song, how many times I've sung along at concerts, or while playing air guitar in in front of the mirror! 

Sparky's Dream was the lead single from the Fanclub's Grand Prix album. Penned and sung by bassist Gerard Love, the song bursts with a vibrant energy from the playful opening riff to the closing chord. 

Gerry sounds like he is head over heels and I love the way he portrays his love, desire and affection in the lyrics. Dig a little deeper and he is pining for a love that he lost after possibly falling too hard and too fast.

If she lived in space, man, I'd build a plane

Out of luck so beam me up to hear her talking again

She painted pictures, that never dried

Always try and keep the feeling alive

Love has a beautiful way with words, weaving vivid imagery in an honest and dreamy way. This continues through the chorus and I appreciate the line magic eyes to read between the lines so much more after typing it out. The lyric seems so simple, the melody is so catchy and I must have sung it hundreds of times, yet I think I've only just appreciated how clever and deep it is. The power of pop!

Need a crystal ball to see her in the morning

And magic eyes to read between the lines

I took a wrong direction

From a shooting star

In a love dimension

Fading fast from taking this too far

Teenage Fanclub use the chorus as a springboard into a short 15-second instrumental that just keeps the groove going, leading into a short verse/bridge. The opening line is pure Gerry Love, encapsulating a feeling in just 6 words and then there is an immediate gorgeous follow up - he is going to hang on to this love, possibly forever. He won't forget.

That summer feeling, is gonna fly

Always try to keep the feeling inside

Sparky's Dream lifts you up from the off and keeps you there with an unrelenting momentum, we're straight back into another chorus and then an outro of magic balls to see her in the morning and crystal eyes to read between the lines. Timeless pop!

Sparky's Dream is added to my Trust Me playlist; search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify or CLICK HERE. Check below for all previous blogs in my Trust Me series.

Official video

I asked the Teenage Fanclub Fanclub for their memories of hearing the song for the first time.

Shona McAllister - 30-years ago I was living in France and one of my very best friends sent me Sparky's Dream. I wasn't having the best time, but that was a ray of sunshine bursting through. It still feels magical.

Richard Miles - I remember hearing it being played on Radio 1 when they did the Radio 1 roadshow! 

Kevin Robertson - It reminded me of Pictures Of Lily at the chorus but the guitar sounds on this and the whole of Grand Prix are about as sweet an overdriven tone as you could find.

Craig Tilstone - I first heard it on Jo Wiley and Steve Lamaq's Evening Session - essential mid-90's listening and a huge shaper of my teenage music tastes. It would have been the second TFC song I ever heard, with them playing Mellow Doubt a few weeks earlier. Sparky's Dream fizzed and jangled and chimed and blew my mind. A 30-year infatuation was born!

Aidan Nicholas - Takes me back to living in my first bought flat in the 90's and listening to the excellent GLR radio. 

Ian Palmer - I heard it first via my cousin having recorded it off Radio 1. I went and bought it the next day.

Matthew Tokley - THE perfect pop rock song.

Peter Rowe - First time I heard it was on their 'tour' of Glasgow at the Renfrew Ferry. Sounded great on first listen!

Mark Dinh - It's the sound of summer (95) for me. Hard to believe that's a lifetime ago. Just like Regret by New Order is for 93. What makes the song for me is the incredible background harmonies around the 2.5 minute mark /outro. Got a magic ball that (ahh ahh ahh ahh woo woo woo) bit.

Jamie Smith - When I saw them at Portsmouth Pyramids back in 95, Norman said it was Zig and Zag's favourite song!

Rob James - It reminds me of an amazing holiday my now wife and I had many years ago, driving through the Italian Lakes and Switzerland with Grand Prix almost on a loop in the car. Don't want to get too dark, but my kids have strict instructions to make sure it's the song I go out to. If you know what I mean ...

Elena Montana - I was late to the party = although technically I am never late, other people are just early! Have seen some people write that Gerry wrote this about Juliana Hatfield (with the caveat that it could just be apocryphal!). Only the writer knows the truth after all!

Graham Williamson - Reminds me of my sons birth in 1995.

John Inwood - Just the best song they have written.

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton

1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells

2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond

3. Where's The Playground Susie?   by Glen Campbell

4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot

5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon

6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras

7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans

8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland

9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave

10. Sometimes by James

11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time

12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre

13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields

14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals

15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser

16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes

17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth

18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter

19. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground

20. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub

21. Don't Look Back by Teenage Fanclub

22. Your Love Is The Place Where I Come From by Teenage Fanclub

23. Belfast by Orbital

24. Clouds by The Jayhawks

25. Dreaming Of You by The Coral

26. Everlasting Love by Love Affair

27. Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke

28. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones

29. Shaky Ground by Sneeze

29. Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells

30. I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor

31. The State We're In by The Chemical Brothers w/ Beth Orton

32. Sunshine After The Rain by Ellie Greenwich

33. Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem

34. Mondo 77 by Looper

35. Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton

36. Rat Trap by The Boomtown Rats

37. How High by The Charlatans

38. I Can't Let Go by Evie Sands

39. Pop Song 89 by R.E.M.

40. Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective

41. There She Goes by The Las

42. We're Going To Be Friends by White Stripes

43. Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo

44. Sister Rena by Lomond Campbell

45. Revolution by The Beatles

46. Lazarus by The Boo Radleys

47. Wrote For Luck by Happy Mondays

48. American Trilogy by The Delgados

49. Loser by Beck 

50. Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy

51. Comedy by Shack

52. Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven

53. Freakscene by Dinosaur Jr

54. Thank You For Being You by The Pastels

55. I Think I'm In Love by Spiritualized

56. Chestnut Mare by The Byrds

57. Cannonball by The Breeders

58. Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

59. You Make Me Weak At The Knees by Electrelane

60. Lucky by Radiohead

61. Strange Currencies by R.E.M.

61. I Am The Cosmos by Chris Bell

62. Like A Ship (Without A Sail) by Pastor TL Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir

63. Nothing But A Heartache by The Flirtations

64. Made of Stone by The Stone Roses

65. Tonight In Belfast by Orbital, David Holmes, DJ Helen and Mike Garry

66. Anything by Adrianne Lenker

67. I Hold Something In My Hand by Bill Ryder-Jones

68. I Meant Every Word by Burnett Sisters

69. Dream Baby Dream by Suicide

70. Stove by The Lemonheads

71. Red Lady by Phil Cordell

72. Little Fluffy Clouds by The Orb

73. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart by Taylor Swift

74. Turnin' My Heartbeat Up by The M.V.P.'s

75. Razzle Dazzle Rose by Camera Obscura

76. Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

77. The Rat by The Walkmen

78. My God Has A Telephone by Aaron Frazer

79. Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack

80. Sweet and Tender Romance by The McKinleys

81. Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros

82. 69 Police by David Holmes

83. Hey Lisa by David Holmes

84. I Am A Rock by Simon & Garfunkel

85. Kung Fu by Ash

86. Kids by MGMT

87. Slight Return by The Bluetones

88. Give Peace A Chance by John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band

89. Cut Your Hair by Pavement

90. Race for the Prize by The Flaming Lips

91. Waitin' for a Superman by The Flaming Lips

92. Acquiesce by Oasis

93. This Is Music by The Verve

94. Lone Swordsman by Daniel Avery

Nothing Lasts Forever by Teenage Fanclub

I'm very glad that Teenage Fanclub have been in my life since 1991 when I discovered Bandwagonesque. Over 30-years! Nothing Lasts Forever of course, but the band are still here, still with me and still releasing music that fills me with a warm glow.

My love and appreciation for Teenage Fanclub grows stronger with every passing year. With every single, album and run of shows. With each anniversary of a classic album - happy forthcoming 30th birthday to Thirteen. With every new friend I make through a mutual love for the band - online or in person. 

Welcome to the world, Nothing Lasts Forever, the 12th Teenage Fanclub album. It is a beautiful album containing 10 songs of love, life, loss, hope and light. If Everything Arcade was reflective, then this new album is looking forward.

Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Francis Macdonald, Dave McGowan and Euros Childs seem to have the bit between their teeth. This is the second Fanclub album in a little over 2-years. We were previously used to/frustrated by an album every 5 or 6 years.

Of course Fanclub albums are always worth waiting for. Maybe even more so, as we all get older. Speaking of which, the passing of time is a theme throughout the album. 

Norman: “These songs are definitely personal. You’re getting older, you’re going into the cupboard getting the black suit out more often. Thoughts of mortality and the idea of the light must have been playing on our minds a lot. The songs on the last record were influenced by the breakup of my marriage. It was cathartic to write those songs. These new songs are reflective of how I’m feeling now, coming out of that period. They’re fairly optimistic, there’s an acceptance of a situation and all of the experience that comes with that acceptance. When we write, it’s a reflection of our lives, which are pretty ordinary. We’re not extraordinary people, and normal people get older. There’s a lot to write about in the mundane."

And so the album begins with Foreign Land Blake singing about time, the past and moving on. His heart beating brightly again after heartache and dark times. There is a delicious run on the bass by Dave before Raymond sets his guitar to stun on the instrumental section. 

It's time to move along

And leave the past behind me

My heart was like a stone

But now it's beating brightly

Official video - Foreign Land 

Raymond's up next with Tired Of Being Alone sounding wise and wistful. Is it just me, or does McGinley's voice sound more melancholic with age. Raymond's always had a knack for finding a hook/mantra to close some of his songs and this is a gem. 

Come with me, watch the seasons go

Summer nights with the sky aglow

Fallen leaves on the ground below

Let's walk outside in the falling snow

Official video - Tired Of Being Alone

Light is a theme that runs throughout the album, with the word featuring in 3 of the 10 song titles. I Left A Light On was the first single taken from Nothing Lasts Forever, away back in April 2022 to soundtrack a tour. The piano and strings really give it a lovely post Beatles Lennon solo type feel. Blake singing of a love spiraling out of control, of being lost, but leaving a light on. It's heartachingly beautiful.

Official video - I Left A Light On

Raymond: "We never talk about what were going to do before we start making a record. We don't plan much other than the nuts and bolts of where were going to record and when. That thing about light was completely accidental; we didn't realise that until we'd finished half the songs. The record feels reflective, and I think the more we do this thing, the more we become comfortable with going to that place of melancholy, feeling and expressing those feelings."

McGinley consistently urges listeners to See The Light, an early favourite of mine. There is a gentle saxaphone in the background and plenty of warm and chiming guitars. There is a brief pause before a gloriously playful guitar solo.

I don't need to roam

I go back home

To see the light

It's Alright is positive and uplifting, like Norman has just had a big blast of sunshine happiness. The lyric to the second verse highlights he is moving forward; take a step into the mystery. Euros tinkling keys come through on repeated listens. Blake goes on to sing it's looking clearer up ahead and Raymond's guitar solo really fizzes. There is a classic going to the country lyric; 

From city street

To country lane

Life is taking hold again

There'll be no need for worry now

It's alright

Falling Into The Sun starts with some fuzzy psychedelia sounds before bursting into life, Dave's bass sounds fantastic. The middle section before Raymond's guitar solo is unexpected and delightful, as is the guitar. 

There are echos of McCartney on the brilliant Self-Sedation. The freshness, the jaunty piano and the vocal melody. Blake delivers this beautiful line in the first verse; 

I wake up before the dawn to start my dreaming of you

The double chorus is superb and there is another brilliant lyric I picked up on; from a breakdown to a breakthrough while the instrumental is pure Macca.

Chiming guitar gently launches Middle Of My Mind, Raymond sounds super dreamy. If the album is largely about moving on, for the time being, McGinley is lost in his thoughts. 

Back To The Light sounded great as a single, it sounds even better as part of an album. Blake sings of finishing a gig and heading back to his love, highlighting his appreciation in the chorus and then throughout the rest of the song.

For you, you know I'd walk a country mile

Have your tissues ready for Raymond's beautiful I Will Love You that closes the album. The slow burning, near 2-minute, intro is beautifully dreamy, leading to McGinley singing about how his love will last through all that is wrong in the world. Until the end of time. Norman's harmonies on the chorus are gorgeous.

This is Teenage Fanclub at their best - heartfelt emotion, love and hope in the face of racisim, bigotry, pollution, capitalism ... the grim reality of modern day life. Love can help. Love can win.

I will love you

Until the sunlight decides to hide

I will love you

Until the planets collide

I will love you

Raymond: "In many ways, us-and-them-ism has taken over the world. I will love you is looking for positivity but its being totally fatalistic at the same time. This shit will exist forever, what are you going to do about it? I came up with the line I will love you/until the flags are put down/and the exceptionalists are buried under the ground while i was playing the guitar. I started wondering what that was all about and where it might go. It's looking for positives within a fatalistic, negative view of human nature."

INTERVIEW - Andy Bell

Back in August 2020 Andy Bell released a brilliant single called Love Comes In Waves and he very kindly answered some questions for my blog. Being the lovely guy he is, Andy was 100% up for another interview ahead of 3 Scottish dates next month under the guise of GLOK, his electronic alter ego.

GLOK play Edinburgh, Voodoo Rooms 11th October, Aberdeen, The Tunnels 12th October and Glasgow, Stereo, 13th October.

You can get tour tickets and pre-order Gateway Mechanics, the new GLOK album from this link.

Read on for an excellent interview. Andy is exceptionally open and honest as he reflects on his career, his songwriting and looks to the future. Is this an exclusive on a new Ride album?!

You've been super busy with Ride - the new albums have been fantastic and you've had a chance to reflect on your discography with reissues and playing albums in full on tour. 

Are there any songs (old or new - maybe you could choose one of each) that you particularly look forward to playing live? Why?

I really love playing Seagull off Nowhere because it’s never the same twice. I saw some early footage of us playing it recently, from 1990 or so, and the start what I was playing was all straight strumming, and Loz was playing a kind of Velvets beat. Now we do a version which is a bit more faithful to the recorded version, but there’s still parts of the song that can go into new places each time we play it. Of the newer songs - Lannoy Point is a favourite because it gets the crowds going. 

Seagull - Live on KEXP, 2015

Seagull - Live on The Happening, 1990

Lannoy Point

When you're writing, do you know in advance if the song is for Ride? Or does it depend where the song takes you? 

It’s not always immediately apparent and some would actually work in a variety of guises. But usually by the time I’ve finished a demo I know where it’s going to be going. If it’s a song with verses and choruses then it’s going to be for Ride, unless it’s going down a more folky path, which is often the sign that it will end up on a solo album. And the more dancey or  soundscapey music is for GLOK. But I don’t work on 1 song and finish it. I work on dozens of things all at the same time, everything is unfinished, I just dip in and out, and eventually something sounds done. Time will pass and I’ll suddenly feel like grouping sets of tracks together and sending them off towards a final point.

You recently toured America with The Charlatans. How did that go? Would you consider a tour or some one-off shows in the UK? I'm sure either would be immensely popular!

It was brilliant and we’d like to do it again. And yes, I’d love to do it in the UK. They’re a lovely bunch of people and so are their fans. 

NOTE - The Charlatans and Ride have just confirmed that they will be touring America again in early 2024.

You recently reissued Carnival Of Light, an album I really enjoyed when it was released. However, it is well documented that it created quite a bit of tension in the band at the time. Was it hard to revisit? What do you think of the album now? Do you have any favourite songs from it?

When I heard the remastered version I thought it sounded great, the production stood up really well. What I think it lets it down is my own songwriting and singing. I love the songs the rest of the band wrote, and some of mine on Carnival of Light are OK. The music and playing I like. I just don’t think I was playing to my strengths at the time. My favourites on the album are Moonlight Medicine and Only Now. 

Moonlight Medicine

You seem to have everything pretty nailed at present; Ride, your solo material and also your electronic alias GLOK. How are you feeling about writing and creating? Are you 'in the zone' at present?

I am working through a process, something I’ve been going through for the last few years. I feel like I’m still clearing the decks and opening the channels for myself to get into some kind of ongoing flow state. The music I’ve released since 2019 is all part of that. What was going on up to that point I regard as some form of hoarding and I don’t think that’s very healthy artistically. 

I’m definitely not there yet in terms of my headspace, there’s a time lag as well. Ironically the times when things are released can often end up being times when you feel at a dead end, possibly due to being in a different state mentally, having to look back over where you’ve been can prevent you seeing where you’re going. Right now I’ve not worked on anything new for weeks. It’s been a mad Summer and I’ve done almost no music, I’m feeling the lack of it, like I really miss it. I guess I broke my hand, that’s held me up a bit too. But saying all that, I feel like I’m getting into a better and better headspace musically all the time. It’s just an ongoing process. 

With GLOK, what kind of set up do you have for playing live? And, at home or in the studio, do you have a favourite synth or drum machine?

I have my guitars, pedals and amps, and I have re-edited backing tracks which have been remixed by me from the GLOK multitrack masters, to play over. To play them I use DJ equipment because that allows me to extend or reduce different sections as and when I want to. For GLOK gigs I am also joined by my friend Chris (Innerstrings) who will be bathing the whole thing in a psychedelic light show. 

You recently worked with Dot Allison who has released a beautiful album. Is there anyone you'd love to write for or play on a record with?

There’s an artist called Justine Forever, who has just released an incredible track called Klaus, I’d love to work on a track with her, but in a way I’m happy enough just listening to her music, it’s probably better than GLOK anyway. 

Klaus

Speaking of writing songs for people - You wrote songs for Oasis and Beady Eye. Would you ever consider writing a song for Liam and sending it on? He does have people writing for him. Turn Up The Sun was such a perfect song for him (and Oasis). I was at Benicassim in 2005 and you came on to play that first, it was so powerful. 

I think with songs like Chinatown and Once, Liam has no need to be working with someone like me. He’s doing amazing and more power to him. The songs I wrote back in Oasis and Beady Eye, I’m very proud of them and he gave them everything vocally, he delivered them with total commitment every time, it was amazing. I think that Turn Up The Sun was the best thing I wrote for Oasis so it was an incredible feeling for me that it got played so much on that tour. 

Once

Turn Up The Sun - Benicassim 2005

What was your favourite Oasis song to play live? Why?

Rock n Roll Star was the one I had the best time playing, because it just rips. 

Rock n Roll Star - Wembley Arena 2008

Lastly, what next? Any plans or are you going with the flow?

I have the GLOK UK tour in October, there’s also the GLOK live album Gateway Mechanics which is released on September 29th via ES (Electronic Sound). 

You can get tour tickets and pre-order the album from this link:

https://linktr.ee/AndyBellGLOK

We also have a Ride album finished and ready to go. It’s been along time coming, without a doubt the longest gestation period ever for a Ride record. It was mastered by John Davis, who has tragically just passed away. John was a very talented man who was a lot of fun to be around, a huge Bowie fan, and so enthusiastic and positive. He’ll really be missed. So yeah, the records ready. We just signed off on the sleeve art and then it’s up to the record company to give us a release date. But we’re really happy with it.

Foreign Land

Photo by 

Donald Milne

Teenage Fanclub released new single Foreign Land earlier today with no prior announcement. A couple of hours later, Monorail dropped some news about their forthcoming album Nothing Lasts Forever, due on 22nd September ahead of their comprehensive European tour.

Foreign Land begins with fuzzy guitar feedback, leading to a fast paced rhythm guitar that underpins Norman harmonising beautifully with Euros. Raymond adds little riffs at times, before taking off on a soaring solo after the second chorus. 

Blake's songwriting is mature and poetic, saying so much about how in love he was and how he now recognises it's over, equally heartbreaking and full of hope. After a heavy heart and sleepless nights, there is now recognition that the past is in the past and it's time to move on. The two line chorus says it all. 

The past's a foreign land

I did my best to understand

Teenage Fanclub are in great form, McGinley's beautiful meandering guitar solo (a cousin to Home) is deliciously playful, both mid-song and through the outro. Euros keys on the outro jam are more evident after a couple of listens, I look forward to hearing this live.

The video was filmed inside Hamilton Mausoleum, one of the largest in the world. Francis MacDonald released an album of chamber music back in 2018 that was inspired by (and recorded in) the venue. It clearly left quite an impression and it is a cinematic setting for the video, absolutely stunning!

On the single and album;

Raymond - "When we got offered ten days in Rockfield, we weren't ready in our minds but then we just thought, 'fuck it' and went for it. If you're sitting around waiting for the stars to align, you can end up never doing anything. We turned up and worked our way through ideas and came up with some while we were there. Foreign Land was born in the studio. If we hadn't gone there at that point through happenstance, that song wouldn't exist. We like to let things happen. As people, we find a deadline inspiring. We like to put ourselves on the spot and see what happens. We usually get away with it. This record is the cliche of the blank canvas, which thankfully we managed to fill."

Watch the video HERE or below.

Roll on September and the tour.

It's time to move along

Leave the past behind me

A heart was like a stone

Now it's beating brightly

The past's a foreign land

I did my best to understand

Beneath the moon and stars

I loved her most profoundly

I wandered in the night

But now I'm sleeping soundly

The past's a foreign land

I did my best to understand

Everything Was Beautiful

Jason Pierce, J Spaceman, is back. Somewhat surprisingly. 

Having been at deaths door, having said that 2018's And Nothing Hurt would be his last album, Pierce and his latest incarnation of Spiritualized is back with a stunning 7-song album - Everything Was Beautiful.

The bones of the album stretch back to an exceptionally fertile period Pierce experienced in 2013-14 when he wrote and demo'd enough songs for a double album. It's taken almost 10-years for the demos to be reworked and find their way into the wider world across 2 albums, with 3.5 years between them.

A Spirtualized album should always be celebrated. Indeed, J Spaceman's albums always are. We know what we're likely to get, but every single time we are moved by lullabies, melodies, invention, droning guitars, mantra's, dreamy and psychedelic soundscapes to get lost in. 

We're moved by Pierce pouring his heart out into his records with his lyrics of love, loss, heartache, drugs, death and reflection. They touch us deeply.

Beginning with a long intro, including morse code, Always Together With You eases us into the album. Never mind cold water therapy, this is like easing into a nice warm soothing bath. Pierce in full on dreamy romantic, anything is possible in love, mode

If you want a rocket ship, I would be a rocket ship for you

If you want another world, I would be another world for you

At 2-minutes 28 seconds the song lifts into the chorus with gorgeous backing vocals. As the song develops we get the sublime vocal layers that Pierce finds effortlessly. The instruments are also built up, like a modern day Pet Sounds. It's stunning, it's Spiritualized, it's just sublime, refreshing and suddenly everything seems better.

Best Thing You Never Had (The D Song) is spacey rock n roll with an infectious guitar riff, rattles of a tambourine in all the right places, flowing into a chorus with gospel singers lifting things in that classic Spiritualized way. There is a rip roaring guitar solo, a breakdown, lift and an extended intro, a tight rhythm with guitars and horns allowed to go crazy.

Honey, you're eyes rolled back, the best thing you've never done

Oh and your wasted time, you best let the water run

And then, with Let It Bleed (For Iggy) we're back into the beautiful dreamy lysergic lullaby space that Jason Pierce can create, interrupted dramatically as the song crashes (from nowhere) into the chorus. Pierce finds the sweet spot (as he so often does) with the extended mantra style outro.

Lay it down, lay it down, lay it down and let it bleed

Come on, come on, come on and lay it down, lay it down, lay it down and let it bleed

If anything, the song is faded too soon.

Crazy is currently my favourite song on the album. A psychedelic country tinged bluesy beauty. Upon first listen I simply tweeted the song with the words Oh J Spaceman.

It's just gorgeous, tugging on and playing a symphony on heart strings you didn't know you had. 

Darling I'm sorry, I must make amends

For messing around with you

We've all heard the story, we know how it ends

Darling, I wish it weren't true

The Mainline Song/The Lockdown Song is the complete opposite to Crazy. Space is filled, things feel claustrophobic and chaotic before a riff and melody burst from nowhere. And then you're rushing, flowing directly into the heart of Spiritualized as they find the groove and ride it. 

At just after 3-minutes Pierce comes in as the groove continues and new layers come in.

Hush, keep your voices down

Everyone is asleep uptown

And I wanted to know, if you wanted to go

To the city tonight

WOW! Just brilliant. This could be a live highlight.

The A Song (Laid In Your Arms) is beautifully grand, theatrical and bold. This is somehow a little bit like J Pierce fronting and conducting Queen! A crazy description? Judge for yourself. It all goes real Spirtualized in the end!

Before you know it, we reach the conclusion of the album, I'm Coming Home Again. Whereas the length of Spiritualized albums is a strength as there is always plenty of time to get lost in the music, Everything Was Beautiful is delivered in only 44 minutes. That's still an average of over 6 minutes per song!

Pierce stretches the song, introducing different characters and stories, again finding that sweet spot in terms of melody and groove, riding it into the sunset.

Spiritualized play SWG3 in Glasgow on Thursday 5th May.