This is one of my partner's favourite albums of all time, so I know it well. As she puts it: "It's a collection of nuggets. And their weird charm works on you whether you're in a foul or a happy mood. So you can stop using this app now. Look no further, this is *it*". Her words, not mine. 🙂 Truth be told, being a huge Pixies fan myself, I did buy *Teenager Of The Year* at the time of its release, and I have also enjoyed it for a long time. So I have my own personal compliments to give to this weird and wonderful gallery of post-1950s snapshots put into nineties indie-rock regalia, going from space conquest fantasies to UFO obsessions, or from Atlantis fairy tales to Hollywood conspiracy theories. The American spirit, as seen through a genius distorted lens of folk myths and urban legends... With the inclusion of the previous eponymous solo debut (also exploring those themes through so many memorable tunes), this sophomore LP is thus certainly the other Frank Black offering to select for such a list. And thanks to its whooping 22 tracks, it's also a *gargantuan* offering for sure--in keeping with Mr. Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV's rotound figure. 22 songs sound like a lot, but the album just flies by, really. First because a large quarter of the tracklist is made out of quite short and endearing jittery hectic punk-rock-inspired cuts only a mind like the one of Frank Black could pull off: they're tongue-in-cheek, surreal, very much in the abrasive loony spirit of Pere Ubu (who had Eric Drew Feldman in their ranks at the time, and helped produce this thing), and yet there's always something accessible to them. Half of the other songs in the album encompasses a larger indie-rock / hard-rock / pop-rock spectrum, sometimes acoustic-guitar-based, sometimes electric, with so many great melodies and catchy choruses it becomes a festival of standout tracks: "Abstract Plains", "Calistan", "Freedom Rock", "Two Reelers", "Olé Mulholland', "Pure Denizen of the Citizens Band", "I Could Stay Here Forever", "Headache"... The latter song was a hit in France, by the way, and this unexpected success in my neck of the woods probably explains why Frank Black will play the album in its entirety in Paris next February for the anniversary of its release. But even if I go to that gig and find a way to sneak in backstage, I don't expect Mr. Kittridge to remember me from the time I interviewed him for a local radio station at the end of the nineties--that interview was a bit boring, honestly, and to this day, I still don't really know if the fault was his or mine--just a way to say that if I have those personal recollections of the artist, I don't think they're influencing my positive take on *Teenager Of The Year* almost three decades after... To return to the album, each song from the last 25% of its tracklist seems to explore a different musical genre not directly adjacent to the main bulk of the record. The organ-laden surf-rock overtones of a couple of cuts were not so surprising from the former Pixies, but the mock-reggae song, along with the folk, country-rock and even doo-wop whiffs on a fistful of other cuts were quite unexpected. This is where complainers will bitch and moan about the album's length the most, I guess. I would retort to them in two ways: Frank Black's singular songwriting chops are still very much intact and *very much his* on those deeper cuts, which brings the necessary cohesion to the whole shebang ; and rather than being unnecessary detours, those fun exercises in style sprinkled throughout the record's tracklist give a sense of space and scope that's also necessary for such a project. Because long albums need to *breathe* once in a while, and this is how they can justify their lengths, at least if their twists and turns manage to keep you on your toes... Per Wikipedia, *Teenager Of The Year* was "not originally well-received", but it seems that this lukewarm assessment ended a few years down the line. I do remember a couple of mixed reviews at the time of the album's release, but frankly, I didn't give a rat's ass about them. I knew it was a great and very fun record from one of the most important musicians in its genre / category. Glad other folks seem to concur today. Frank Black might not have been the *real* "teenager of the year 1994" (and he was probably aware of the upcoming backlash / turn of the tides trendwise, hence the ironic title and the goofy artwork). But in retrospect, he does deserve his place on the indie-rock podium of all time. If there's one thing that this app can teach you, it's that yesterday's pageants don't matter that much. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 5. 9.5/10 for more general purposes. Number of albums left to review: 116 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 386 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 226 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 284