#_linden

4/3/23.

Wow. I'd heard of Eugenius and The Vaselines but never Eugene Kelly's solo work. Monorail sent out one of their emails that highlight a single album. That album is Past Night From Glasgow's reissue of "Man Alive" - Eugene Kelly's (Glasgow, Scotland) 2003 album.

Bandcamp doesn't have "Man Alive" but it does have this 4 song EP in digital format. You can order this direct from Past Night From Glasgow (first 100 sales come autographed). I found that PNFG will make a cool offer on additional music (mine was the 2 LP Superstar LP "Palm Tree").

Eugene Kelly recalls many different Glaswegian sounds - Teenage Fanclub, Lightships, BMX Bandits, Superstar, _Linden. Monorail said this of the song "Older Faster" (which is on "Man Alive"):

Older Faster is maybe the most perfect song he’ll ever write – right up there with Neil Young, Norman Blake, Alex Chilton, anyone. 

9/3/16.

I’m patiently awaiting the release of the new Teenage Fanclub album.  I have ZERO problem with bands that sound like TFC.  Dropkick does (listen to “Slow Down”), make no mistake.  Dropkick sounds like the syrupy, perfect pop that Teenage Fanclub consistently release.  Be forewarned, there’s not a lot of rock like you might find on earlier Fannies releases like “Catholic Education”.  My other comparisons are The Jayhawks, Goldrush, Superstar and _Linden.  In other words, if you love guitar based indie pop, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this release.

Summery melancholy from well-connected Scotsman.

4/5 stars

_Linden is Joe McAlinden, the former frontman of Scottish indie-rockers Superstar and a collaborator with Teenage Fanclub, Rod Stewart and Alex Chilton. He’s such a hopeless romantic he still divides his sparklingly soulful albums into A and B sides. Three years after his wonderful Bleached Highlights LP, Rest And Be Thankful is an elegant and emotional collection recorded in an old fisherman’s croft on the shores of Loch Fyne. A master of the jangle-friendly, bittersweet melody, songs such as Window Pane, Yesterday_Rewind and Take My Hand appear in front of your eyes glowing like delicately drawn satellites launched from another, more hand-tooled time, yet they’re still warm to the touch. Spiced by McAlinden’s own sax and violin playing, Rest And Be Thankful is as welcome as the first true summer’s day in Argyll.

Rob Fitzpatrick

Rest and Be Thankful  – gently uplifting sunshine pop.

4/5 stars

Linden’s Joe McAlinden formerly fronted 90s Creation signings Superstar, purveyors of Big Star-influenced, sunshine-drenched guitar pop. They weren’t as successful as Scottish label-mates Teenage Fanclub, although they did earn the unlikely honour of Rod Stewart covering one of their songs. These days, McAlinden runs a “small, characterful” restaurant on the shores of Loch Fyne, which serves up the delights of “new garlic and pheasant’s egg”, but he clearly still allows time for melodic sunshine. The atmosphere of Argyll permeates songs recorded in a log cabin and peppered with references to boats, growing older and the joys of the elements, from the breeze to the rural sound of silence. Their gently uplifting sound spans a palette of references from the Velvet Underground to 70s MOR, and is polished up with twangy guitars and horns. At the album’s heart are McAlinden’s plaintive vocals, which drive beautifully observed songs that are as lovely as the sun over the loch.

Dave Simpson

Former Superstar frontman Joe McAlinden, as covered by Rod Stewart.

4/5 stars

In 1998 the Scotsman Joe McAlinden had diverse cultural register. Rod Stewart covered his song Superstar on When We Were The New Boys album. Highland-born author Alan Warner quoted McAlinden’s Every Second Hurts as an epigraph for his novel The Sopranos. There’s something distinctly Scottish to McAlinden’s modernisation of American West Coast pop, and there’s more of his emotive latter-day musical Caledonia on this second solo LP recorded in an old fisherman’s croft on Loch Fyne and named after a viewpoint on the road up out of Glen Croe. On Window Pane the blend of wistfulness and chiming melodic prettiness suggests prime Teenage Fanclub. On Broken Glass horns support a strong tune and McAlinden’s equally strong, keening voice. A record with beauty and sense of emotional elevation to match the place where it was made.