Teenage Fanclub searches for the light on ‘Endless Arcade’ [Review]

Teenage Fanclub is back, just when we need them the most.

Five years after the release of Here, the long-running Scottish power-pop band returns with Endless Arcade, their 11^th album and first without founding member Gerard Love.

The absence of Love (who apparently left on amicable terms after not wanting to tour) seems to infuse much of Endless Arcade, a melancholic record about adapting to change and holding onto what fleeting happiness comes one’s way.

Though written and mostly recorded pre-pandemic, the fear and uncertainty of the COVID-era almost leaps out from vocalist-guitarist Raymond McGinley’s title track, with its repeated lines imploring, “Don’t be afraid of this life.” Then there’s vocalist-guitarist Norman Blake’s “The Sun Won’t Shine on Me,” a shimmering Beatles-esque track about trying to find meaning in the midst of despair: “With a troubled mind / I am in decline / and the sun won’t shine on me.”

That’s not to suggest that Endless Arcade is a joyless slog. No one is better at pairing dispiriting lyrics to uplifting pop perfection quite like TFC at their best, and there are a number of those moments here. Blake’s “I’m More Inclined” is a catchy foot-stomping anthem about choosing love, while the seven-minute opening track “Home” is filled with some unexpected classic rock guitar riffing that belies the song’s heartbreaking lyrics about the dissolution of a relationship.

Buoyed by a slightly rejiggered lineup including drummer Francis Macdonald, Dave McGowan (shifting from keyboards to bass), and long-time contributor Euros Childs on keys, Endless Arcade sees Teenage Fanclub stretching into new musical directions far from the shimmering power-pop that won them acclaim on albums like 1991’s Bandwagonesque and 1995’s Grand Prix.

Childs’ warm keys add depth to the tracks, and the band travels through a number of styles and moods over the album’s 12 tracks, from the arena rock guitar work on “In Our Dreams” to the lush album closer “Silent Song.”

A perfect soundtrack to these uncertain times, Endless Arcade is an honest reflection of the joys and heartache of aging (the “Teenage” moniker is essentially ironic at this point) and falling in and out of love. This album is the sound and feeling of the band seeing a light at the end of a very long tunnel. It’s a notion that most of us can now hopefully relate to as well.

Endless Arcade is out now via Merge Records. For all upcoming tour dates, visit the official Teenage Fanclub site.