Bandwagonesque

an absolutely awesome power pop record. i love it for similar reasons as bands like car seat headrest, with their incredibly catchy hooks and immensely enjoyable song structures in general, along with some top-tier riffs.

It's really not my sort of thing at all. I'm going to paraphrase what I find myself typing often - "not for me, wasn't awful, wouldn't listen again, I can understand why other people might like it, two stars".

fun light and airy pop rock... trying to be serious, but reminds me of The Knack

Pleasant but inconsequential. Never shpuld have been on the list

Moyen

p675. 1991. 4 stars. Rather splendid early 90s indie Brit rock with decent tunes and harmonies. Would revisit.

Better than expected, will come back to this

I liked this a lot. Like somewhere in between big 80s glam rock & britpop. Would listen again

Kinda sound like a fake band from an early 00s teen drama where the protagonist dates the guitarist for a few episodes.

Okay. Start of nineties sound i suppose

I've been aware of Teenage Fanclub without ever knowingly playing one of their records before. I've listened to this album twice now, and I think it's a bit average. One track even reminded me of ELO.

Ok

Tämä oli semmosta teinikomedia-leffa musakkia. Tyyliin ameriikan pie. Neutraalia, ei väräytä viisaria suuntaan tai toiseen.

Vähän vaihdellen rokkia, poppia, alttipoppia ja joskus vähän pörinää/ambienttiaki meininkiä. Ei oikein paljoa jääny käteen tästä levystä, ei suuremmin herättänyt tunteita mihinkään suuntaan. Välillä aivan ok hetkiä, välillä tylsempää, saundillisesti melko meh.

Pas mal mais pas transcendant un peu un album d’ado je trouve

I had only previously heard What you do to me, but was not keen to pursue the band further, even though I really like early 90s indie. I was surprised to find out they are still going. I hope that this album is not considered their best.

4.1

4.5

1/10… 90s indie / rock / *1991

Glorioso comienzo con The Concept. Prefiero Grand Prix, que es uno de mis discos favoritos, pero tanto este como Thirteen están está a igual altura, y un poco detrás Songs from Northern Britain. Satan no aporta nada. December sí y de qué manera. Un disco grande entre los grandes de aquella cosecha inolvidable del 91 (RHCP, Nirvana, Pixies, My Bloody Valentine..). Love y Blake están a años luz de sus coetáneos (Jayhwaks seguirán sus pasos). Miran directamente a Big Star, los Byrds, los Beatles y Badfinger. What you do to me, I don´t know, metal baby, star sign, guiding star

Brilliant album. Owned it since it was released and still one I listen to a lot. Hard to pick a favourite song on it, but Pet Rock and Alcoholiday will be up there.

What this does to me I know I can't believe There's something about it gets me down on my knees

According to SPIN magazine in 1991, this was their album of the year, beating out Nirvana’s Nevermind. Suffice to say that was nuclear take. This sounds like slightly less whiny Dinosaur Jr. it’s not bad, but dear lord it is not Nirvana at the peak of their powers. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Much better than the other sadboy rock on this list

Yeah, okay, this album exists. Well done, you've won the 90s Teenage Fanclub!

3 stars but 10\10 for sitcom background music

It’s all a bit meh to me. Decent enough. Just feels generic.

A lot of sixties influence here in the songwriting and harmonies, mixed with grunge guitar. Not a band I;ve ever listened to before and unlikely to again, but I'm letting it play out anyway.

Bueno

Solid, pretty cool and decent replayability

Vulgarity

I would say this is not what I like at all, but, for some reason, I have really enjoyed listening to this album. And, listening to it I have had a debate while thinking that I usually dislike this kind of music, but the combination of very volatile and noisy pop-rock songs with some funny layers at times and some really nice arrangements too has won me this time. I have really liked it, and that is strange, but strangely wonderful. It's a very pleasant album, to be honest, and even enjoyable if you listen to it at the right time. I wouldn't say it's the greatest thing I've ever heard, but surely it is very well constructed and effective as a very jingle-ish album, with some pretty solid songs. Not bad at all.

Don't think I'm the audience for this one, I was just kind of uninterested the whole time

Not a fan.

Ich hatte am Anfang des Albums eher kritisch gedacht, weil die Gitarre nicht sehr voll klingt, und leider hat das Album diesen Sound nicht wirklich geändert. Es hat zu viele Stellen, wo es zu voll klang, aber das Songwriting (und einzelne Songs) sind exzellent

This gave me Oasis vibes. I loved this. This rocked. Such a vibe and so well done. The entife thing was entertaining. The vocal harmonies and guitar rhythms were great. The solos were so fun too. Liked Songs: "The Concept" , "Satan" , "I Don't Know" , "Star Sign" , "Metal Baby" , "Sidewinder" , "Alcoholiday" , "Is This Music?"

Good shit. 4

i like this

Just as with the previous album for me (Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space), Bandwagonesque makes a strong case that shoegaze is less a genre in itself than a blend of many influences, but primarily coated and disguised in reverb, gain, and swirling guitar feedback. Teenage Fanclub are probably one of my most beloved incarnations of ’60s pop, blues, and folk-tinged tunes - but make it noise - outside their respective genre’s heyday. Their third album sounds remarkably untouched by time, even 25 years after its initial release. Love it or hate it, but these Scots had a real knack for crafting engaging melodies and they, thankfully, incorporated some of their country’s idiosyncrasies along the way (the strings on “December”), to great effect. This is peak jangling noise pop/power pop. Highly, highly addictive.

Boring

Dang this is a really good fun album. Poppy but still crunchy it's delightful.

"'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby" type of music, I like it

I'd completely forgotten but I loved the song The Concept 25 yrs ago. Don't think i've heard it since then, it's still pretty perfect. Shame that's the first song because it's the best one. 3.5 rounded up

Yeah, it's alright.

Liked it better than I thought a would but didn’t feel moved to save any songs to come back to

Pretty bold to simply say "We stole our sound from the Alternative Music coming out of the US" and they said that. It's ok I guess, but I don't understand why they'd be on this list? Oh right, UK act. At least put a Screaming Trees album on here or something.

I have never heard of this album before. As a Brazilian, that may not be so surptising. I'm more into Brazilian rock, just because of what was accessible to me. So it was a pleasent surprise to hear this. Bandwagonesque has a range of styles and a diversity of topics they play about that makes it a fun, engaging journey to listen to this album. I got it on repeat a few times before writting this.

Huh, was expecting something else. Was expecting like early punk but this is actually quite nice. Really a right album for this day. The first song was nice and calming. Im really a sucker for violin. All parts with that are amazing. The cover art absolutely sucks tho 😅. Its like its made in Microsoft Paint in less of 5 minutes. Songs are kinda short which im not a fan of. Star Sign was a nice song. Last song was a good closing track. Overall a good album i would say. Nothing i would listen actually but if this would play on the background i would be happy with it.

No doubt that this album had an influence on the uk indie music scene in the UK.

Generically lazy.

Alright

aaaarghh que delicinha de album! não queria gostar tanto de um album com uma capa FEIA dessas, mas pqp que músicas legais e chicletes. as vezes parece uma banda dos anos 00 bem indiezinha, mas algumas músicas vão pro lado meio 60s, então fica uma mistura que é a minha cara. what you do to me é uma música dos beatles de um universo paralelo, eu tenho certeza disso.

One of the best albums of all time

Like a mash up of oasis/weezer/wheatus/dandy Warhols to name a few. Unfortunately I very rarely took notice of it playing in my ears and it just became background music. Disappointed. Best track- ‘metal baby’ Worst track- ‘is this music’ erm if you want a honest answer it is but it’s not very good! 3/10

Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque The Fannies make everything sound effortless. A bit too effortless at times. There are some highs here. The Alex Chilton sounding December, the wonderfully effervescent What You Do To Me, and the wonderful Star Sign. But there is a lot that just goes by too. Satan, apart from that piledriving last 30 seconds, Pet Rock, Metal Baby, Sidewinder.... In fact the whole album just lazy falls away like jelly on the edge of a table. It goes and no one seems bothered. The closing instrumental does try to rally things a bit though. But, the opening track The Concept is worth the price of entry alone. A magnificent song that rolls from one glorious chord to the next as guitars casually but gracefully fly and twist around each other. It sets heights that the rest just can't compete with. Best Track - The Concept Worst Track - Alcoholiday 7/10

I don’t get it with this band. I never got it. I was a huge British music fan in the 90s, and I could never bring myself to listen to Teenage Fanclub. But all the cool kids liked them. I felt like maybe I wasn’t cool enough? So then, when the album came up today, I decided to give it a real try. Maybe I could be one of the cool kids! But no. Just… No. The songs are so bland. They are mediocre pop songs with distortion over them. One song reminded me almost exactly of that song from the movie “That Thing You Do”, but with layers of fuzz on top. “I Don’t Know” is a much-worse, fuzzier replica of Matthew Sweet’s “Girlfriend.” And the ones that are kind of catchy (“The Concept”; “Star Sign”) are ruined by two-minute long guitar solos that are just screechy strumming that goes nowhere. Why?

Really enjoyable album. Nothing not to like here.

Preh good

Ok, but dull

I wish more of this album sounded like The Concept or Is This Music? :( Decent to listen to, not memorable. Favorite Tracks: The Concept I Don't Know Is This Music?

I Didn't Want To Hurt You 1001 Albums Generator 362 (10/1/2026) Fun jangle pop, which starts and ends really strong. I haven't ever heard of Teenage Fanclub, but this is a pretty good album. 3.5/5, rounded down to 3. Favs: The Concept Star Sign Is This Music? Least Fav: Satan

Average teen movie soundtrack, not the biggest fan in the club

tik boring

Really fun and catchy songs. Feels like the Beatles meet the 90s.

Tja, typische jarennegentigpop met wat vervorming en lijzige zang, en wat piepjanknormuziek tussendoor. Kan heel leuk zijn, maar dit is nogal nondescript. In Nederland hebben deze gasten verder nooit een deuk in een pak boter geslagen, dat zegt ook wel iets. Niks valt verder op en we gaan weer door met de volgende plaat. Wel leuke bandnaam weer.

Na een vroege rock and roll plaat, een vroege country plaat, krijgen we nu een vroege britpop plaat. Deel van de leut bij de 1001 is het gesprek over de selectie. Na het 1001-gesprek van gisteren over deze plaat, moest ik even wiki-en over mijn eerste zin. Want wat is vroeg bij Britpop? Daarvoor biedt wiki een mooie tijdslijn met gerenommeerde bands. (En nogal off-topic, daartussen een 'hoogtepunt rivaliteit' tussen de twee bekende bands, dus wellicht moet ik het als bron ook met een korreltje zout nemen). Los van de paar bands die al dit soort muziek maakten, voordat de term was uitgevonden. Knalt het genre er vanaf 1990 in. Dus ja: dit album uit 1991 was vroeg. Maar tegelijk staan er in het overzicht al in 1990 bewezen namen als Radiohead en Blur genoteerd. En wat is dan de waarde van dit vrij vergeetbare plaatje ten opzichte van de concurrenten?

Dit album werd in 1991 door muziekblad Spin uitgeroepen tot album van het jaar, nog voor middelmatige albumpjes als, hoe heten ze ook weer, Nevermind, Blood Sugar Sex Magic, Ten enzo. Of Out of Time van REM. Ik vermoed dat onze gehate snobs ook voor dit blad hebben gewerkt, want Out of Time staat niet eens in de snoblijst. Blijkbaar heeft het blad later wel haar excuses aangeboden voor de slechte keuze, en terecht want Teenage Fanclub is nu niet bepaald wereldberoemd geworden, al hebben ze nog behoorlijk veel albums uitgepoept. Het zou de snobs sieren als ze voor minimaal de helft van die 1001 albums die ze ons hebben voorgeschoteld, ook een keer excuses aanbieden. Want man man man, wat hebben ze vaak de plank misgeslagen. De review van dit album in het boek getuigt ook van weinig zelfreflectie, want lyrisch is nog zacht uitgedrukt. Nu vind ik dit album ook wel leuk moet ik zeggen. Onmiskenbaar 90s eigenlijk, er zitten wat gruizige gitaren in, er wordt wat melancholisch gezongen. Het doet me ergens denken aan een light-variant van Dinosaur Jr. Ik vind dit soort muziek altijd wel lekker. Het is aardig vergeetbaar, maar inclusief het 90s gitaarbonuspuntje, rond ik het dan toch weer af naar een 4. Maar morgen ben ik het al vergeten.

Don't got much to say, except that it's a good album. Solid 4 Stars.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5. You know, sometimes, you can just hear when an album has ‘it’. This feels like an effortlessly good album. Some of these songs were apparently lyrically thrown together in 20 minutes, and you can tell. It’s not groundbreaking stuff here. It’s just a really good example of how less is occasionally more; I think back to the Auteurs’ album from the other day & how loaded it was with flowery language that created an abnormal sense of false confidence that soured the whole album. I look at the laidback style here & I can simply connect to it far more. Occasionally, these guys could’ve broken up some of their looping lyrics & not as relied as much on some extended guitar solos, but I don’t hear any of that as a boon to the music. At its very core, it’s just music that gives both itself & its listener the chance to breathe. If an album can make everything between the verses feel just as good as the verses themselves, it’s doing something right. This album is doing a lot of things right. It’s not necessarily doing it at a high level, but it’s just doing it right. Is it the best album of 1991? No, at least not at a critical or professional level. It is, however, the type of album you can point to, call it your favorite album of 1991, and generally have someone understand why from listening to it, even if it’s not as timeless as others. That was Spin’s mistake; they picked their favorite album as the ‘best’ album. It’s not my favorite album of 1991, but I can totally see it being someone else’s. It’s extremely relaxed power pop, and despite the layered guitar tones that add a wall of sound to the whole thing, nothing ever feels too obnoxious in the mix. Everybody’s vocals sound really nice too. Lyrically, I wouldn’t even call it as ‘thrown together’ as I made it seem earlier; there’s some genuinely good lines here, a couple of lived-in scenarios, and if nothing else, they can boil down a doubt or an insecurity into a few lines that suddenly make them feel universal. It’s a very generalized album, but it still has weight to it. Hence, a 4.5 bumped up to a 5. If it continues to click like that, it might go slightly above a 5 someday. It’s one of those albums that just has ‘it’, at least to my ears. I think it earns its place on the list.

I didn't love this on the first listen -- it was kinda okay. But on the second listen I warmed up to it. Four stars.

I would like to nominate The Concept for inclusion on the list of all time best song one/side one from High Fidelity. Nothing else on here comes close to that, but, really, if it did, this would be one of the best 10 or so albums of all time instead of just an easy 5-stars, which is what it will have to settle for.

Okay. Good.

There is a surprising amount of Scottish rock bands on this list that are just okay. I like the noise elements, but a lot of the melodies and vocals are just okay at best. Mid 3.

As someone who really was a teenage fan of Teenage Fanclub, I think Grand Prix is their best album but I love this one too, ‘will this do?’ cover art and all.

The only thing I knew about this was that it's Ben Gibbard's favourite album, and I can see that. Fun power pop, I liked the vocal harmonies a lot and most songs I could sing along to before they finished.

actually really good!

extremely mid Would I listen again: i literally didn't bother listening closely to this one after hearing the first guitar Deserves to be on this list: how 2.0

not a fan, they had a similar kind of theme to their music and stuff but just like couldn't really get behind or enjoy it at all

It’s alright. Very forgettable.

An album that does it all. Probably one that I even need to make sure that I spend more time with in the future.

It picks up, but I thought it was just fine.

mid 3.5. É um bom álbum de rock que bebe um pouco do britpop e outros gêneros da época, mas não se destaque profundamente. Ainda é bem coeso e divertido.

Very early 90s, sounds like the soundtrack to a teen comedy from that era.

Not a morning terms of song writing going on here

Surprisingly good and catchy I will come back to this

This one surprised me. A little basic, sure, but really enjoyable alt rock that doesn’t push too far into grating or harsh textures, but just gritty enough to be interesting. Good vocals, great guitars, and catchy tunes.

Sounds like a bunch of posers to me

Gear: INAWAKEN Twilight-DS Artwork: ️💰🖍️🟪 Production: 🎧📢😵‍💫 Music: 😐😑😶 Rating: 💰💰/5

Enjoyment: 5/10 Replayability: 5/10 Cohesion: 6/10 Flow/Pacing: 5/10 Artistic Merit: 5/10 Weighted Average: 5.15/10 Review: Sounds like your average 90s rock-pop hybrid. The last track asks, Is This Music? - and I think so. Nothing outstanding, but an easy listen. Liked Song(s): The Concept, I Don't Know, Pet Rock, Is This Music? Disliked Song(s): (None) Recommend? Yes Heard Before? No

The album was okay. However, there wasn't anything on it that I absolutely have to listen to again. 3/5

Fine

me re gustó

Perfectly inoffensive. Barely noticed when the album restarted.

meh

A bit middling, but considering the release year it was a bit ahead of its time. That earned it an extra star from me.

Another one I enjoyed more than expected. I listened to this a long time ago and wasn't that impressed, but it's actually pretty good. It doesn't really stand the test of time in terms of song quality (which is pretty uniformly good to very good, but not great) or influence (which it seemed to have some of in the early 90's but I suspect very few modern bands would list this as an influence). But I can still see the case for it being here given other bands on the list Despite all that it's an enjoyable listen and probably deserves a place in the list

'Says she don't do drugs but she does the pill.' No, Bandwagonesque isn't better than Nevermind - for obvious reasons, Spin got that wrong - but that doesn't mean it's not an excellent record. Melody is a motherfucker, & this album proffers melody upon sweet melody, w/o losing itself in saccharinity. Teenage Fanclub have got some edge, sure, but the tracks on this thing are really nothing more than love songs in their barest, most basic form. I think what's most remarkable isn't just how simple the enterprise is, but that the album doesn't exactly jump off the page, & that it doesn't need to in order to impress. From go, the record lets you know what it's about, & that's to let the good times roll. Perhaps I'm just in a good mood, but nearly superb?

Don’t sound Scottish at all. Good musicality but just kind of boring

meio sem vida (skate 3 type beat)

This one ended on a high note for me, but otherwise did not strike me as anything but boring old rock music