Teenage Fanclub / Thirteen

The fourth album from Scotland's Teenage Fanclub, which was named after the song of the same title, by the iconic noise pop band, Big Star. Despite AllMusicGuide and Rolling Stone Magazine throwing up multiple stars for this album as an epic, this is a very underrated album and a modern guitar pop masterpiece by a very consistent band. The Big Star influence is strong again. Sometimes you swear it's Alex Chilton singing. The album's closing track "Gene Clark" is one of the band's great experiments and one of their finest performances, with a Neil Young alike "Down By The River" jam that evolves into something as sweet and cyclical as springtime. Judged on the strength of its songwriting, 'Thirteen' remains a big step forward.