Municipal Water Monitoring (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)
FRESHLY PRESSED
DO NOT DARE TO DREAM
Teenage Fanclub
INDIE • OCTOBER 9, 2026 • MERGE RECORDS
Pete Townshend coined "power pop" in 1967 to describe the sound of Small Faces. With a sound based around big hooks, harmonies and a streak of longing, the 70s gave the style its cult heroes (Badfinger, the Raspberries, Cheap Trick), and above all Big Star, a band that sold next to nothing when they were new and went on to influence nearly everyone who came after.
Teenage Fanclub are among the most devoted of Big Star heirs. Formed in Scotland in 1989 by Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love, they started out bonding over Big Star's first two records, which were still cult obscurities back then. They credit Orange Juice with proving that loving music made before 1976 wasn't uncool. In 1991 'Bandwagonesque' won Spin's album of the year, ahead of Nirvana and R.E.M., and Kurt Cobain called them the best band in the world. They toured with Nirvana the next year. They also got to know Alex Chilton himself, who, as Blake put it, saw something of himself in them.
Now it's album number 13, three years after 2023's 'Nothing Lasts Forever.' Love left in 2018, and Blake and McGinley carry on with Francis MacDonald, Dave McGowan and Euros Childs. They recorded at Black Bay Studio on Great Bernera, a remote Scottish island studio, arriving with basic song ideas and working out the arrangements together in the room. The title is Blake's, from 'I Do Not Dare to Dream,' a wary nod to "dare to dream" optimism.
Vinyl comes in Opaque Orange Peak and black and we’re more than ready to dig in..
LISTEN & BUY
If at all possible, buy it at your local record store.