Man-Made (2005) PeMa Records/Merge Records
Five years on from Howdy!, Man-Made sees the band on their own label and more intriguingly teaming up with engineer John McEntire in Chicago. McEntire is the acclaimed drummer with Tortoise, The Sea And Cake, Gastr Del Sol etc and has sat in the producer's chair for the likes of Stereolab, Smog and The Fiery Furnaces among many others. The resulting album is thus surprisingly free of embellishment, instead a candidate for the best recorded of all the TFC recordings. Man-Made has a spontaneous feel, tempered with some wintery reflective lyrics, notably Raymond McGinley's Nowhere, apparently written on a walk while in Chicago during the sessions, and Norman Blake's folky Cells, a gem of a track and a subtle look at his/our mortality. Gerry Love's Fallen Leaves was a surprise choice first single, when his driving Born Under A Good Sign might have livened up the radio waves more... opener and second single It's All In My Mind is another highlight. An tidy encapsulation of everything good about Teenage Fanclub from delicate introspection to light-hearted toe-tappers, still tinged with hints of The Byrds and Big Star, Man-Made is a fitting end to their current discography.
Norman Blake - Vocals, guitar
Gerard Love - Vocals, bass
Raymond McGinley - Vocals, guitar
Francis MacDonald - Drums
John McCusker - Violin, viola
John McEntire - Piano