Howdy!

The good news is that their move from Alan McGee’s Creation label to part of the Sony stable hasn’t changed Teenage Fanclub one jot. These lovable Scots are the finest purveyors of honey-coated guitar pop in the universe, and they are still capable of making the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention with alarming regularity, while simultaneously turning your head to thoughts of lazy summer afternoons, romantic interludes and smiling young couples with perfect teeth.

While individually they may be approaching a mid-life identity crisis, musically the Fannies are still as focused as ever on the twin deities of melody and lyricism: the great god pop is alive. ‘I Need Direction’ glows with a sun-kissed charm that makes you wonder how Norman Blake was raised in rain-soaked Glasgow and not beneath the blue skies of California: “I get visions,” he admits on the chorus – and long may they last.

Howdy! is liberally sprinkled with gems that could have been plucked from anywhere in their past. ‘The Town And The City’ is the perfect song to wake up to – caressing fuzzy heads into wakefulness amid wave after wave of gloriously soaring pop hooks, jangling guitars and pristine harmonies. ‘Accidental Life’ drips with the melancholy charm so much a part of Teenage Fanclub’s make-up that they could have patented it long ago; while the dark subject matter of ‘Straight & Narrow’ belies the sun-drenched buoyancy of the music as they explore the barren anguish of addiction.

The gentle ‘If I Never See You Again’ is a perfectly poised, bittersweet moment on which to finish.