Coldplay 'bodysnatched' our sound, says Travis singer Fran Healy

mixolyd

lasermonkey said:

Stuckfast said:

Yes exactly, both Travis and Coldplay copied Thom Yorke's incredibly annoying singing mannerisms.

And weren't Teenage Fanclub in their turn just a mash-up of the Byrds and Big Star?

Alex Chilton was incredibly self-critical and never understood Big Star's accolades. And yet he loved Teenage Fanclub.
I love both bands, but apart from the "melodic guitar group with nice harmonies" part, I really don't think they're more than superficially similar. Yeah, they're not groundbreaking, but when you have a back catalogue like theirs, you don't have to be.

In terms of arrangement Teenage Fanclub were similar to Big Star but their grasp of melody was on another level - up with the all time greats.  Their lack of interest in experimenting with arrangement and groove was what held them back from becoming something truly special - you can only do so much when most of your songs use arrayed guitars playing the same beginner strumming pattern.

In a way Big Star were the opposite - a studio band from the beginning that experimented with gear to craft a contemporary sound for their songs.  Shame it all fell apart so quickly.

ICBM

Fran Healy needs to aim higher...

When I heard the new U2 single a few days ago, I thought it was Coldplay - to be be fair it was while I was at work and I wasn't paying extremely close attention - but Bono even sounds like Chris Martin now. Tedious and dreary.

mixolyd said:

In terms of arrangement Teenage Fanclub were similar to Big Star but their grasp of melody was on another level - up with the all time greats.  Their lack of interest in experimenting with arrangement and groove was what held them back from becoming something truly special - you can only do so much when most of your songs use arrayed guitars playing the same beginner strumming pattern.

I don't think Teenage Fanclub ever had a single really memorable song. I really wanted to like them and had a couple of the albums - Songs From Northern Britain and Bandwagonesque - but I couldn't name one song off them now.

Jalapeno

Fran Healy can sing a tune in-tune, they're very different

UnclePsychosis

Imagine thinking Teenage Fanclub were nothing truly special.

Deary me, boys. Deary me. 

robinbowes

UnclePsychosis said:

Imagine thinking Teenage Fanclub were nothing truly special.

Deary me, boys. Deary me. 

Imagine thinking your own subjective opinion was more correct than someone else's...

UnclePsychosis

robinbowes said:

UnclePsychosis said:

Imagine thinking Teenage Fanclub were nothing truly special.

Deary me, boys. Deary me. 

Imagine thinking your own subjective opinion was more correct than someone else's...

Because I was *definitely* being 100% serious...

english_bob

darthed1981 said:

I always kind of liked Travis, especially their first album before they went down the "Man Who" road.

For example...

It were a different time, the 90s.

Imagine a band today putting out a jolly, upbeat single about "accidentally" having sex with underage girls.

darthed1981

english_bob said:

darthed1981 said:

I always kind of liked Travis, especially their first album before they went down the "Man Who" road.

For example...

It were a different time, the 90s.

Imagine a band today putting out a jolly, upbeat single about "accidentally" having sex with underage girls.

I think that every time I hear it, I find it an amusing counterpoint to their sort of inoffensive indie jangle they spent the rest of their career doing.

Dunno if Gary Glitter got a songwriting credit on it.

ICBM

I thought the first album was terrible - and still do - and wrote them off as a band completely until they listened to Radiohead and did The Man Who...

Ironically I can't stand Radiohead.

JerkMoans

Dirgecore vs Yawncore. Even the attempt to generate a spat is tedious  

viz

ICBM said:

I thought the first album was terrible - and still do - and wrote them off as a band completely until they listened to Radiohead and did The Man Who...

Ironically I can't stand Radiohead except for Fake Plastic Trees. 

Corrected. 

Zoolooter

Both bands were/are just mind numbingly crap. In fact, worse than listening to a tonewood debate.

fob

Anyone who has kids playing orchestra might be aware of the Youtube channel Twoset Violin. An old video popped up on my suggestions today where they play through an 'evolution' of English music. The pop music starts at about 6:50 (Careless Whisper doesn't sound too bad). Yellow does not come off well!

Greatape

....and nobody has chucked a Snow Patrol grenade into this terribly exciting band war. 

Plodding drummers....