Review of Andy White's "Teenage"

Teenage (1996) is the third album from Andy White, an idiosyncratic Irish singer-songwriter. The impression these little quirks make vary between charming, pretentious and cringe-worthy. Everyone will have their own opinion.

A perfect example is a little passage written on the back of the album , which sums up White’s attitude to his music and succinctly captures the mood of this work. “Late night walking down Hawthorn looking up at the Southern Hemisphere stars piano music ringing in my ears. Turning on the first cassette in Temple Bar sunshine windows open Dublin summertime coming. Loud Real Loud recording under ground Italian coffee freedom and photographs. Australian afternoons one summer day in England Irish days turning into night. All of these things. Reality is not just made in heaven.” Make of that what you will.

The songs on Teenage can be neatly divided into three categories, which always makes things easier for a music reviewer. The first of these, typically for White, consists of his simplistic (rather than simple), catchy songs. They are easily identifiable in that they are irritatingly easy to pick up and have banal lyrics. A perfect example is the opener, ‘Acoustic Guitar’, with its uninspiring refrain: “Why don’t you play it on your acoustic guitar.” Then there is the (seemingly, at least) biographical ‘My Gay Cousin’. It’s opening is ridiculously contrived: “He stuck a Canadian flag on his backpack to say he wasn't American,” and things don’t get better as the story continues: “It took a video of torch song trilogy to tell his mother/and a letter fell out of a novel & told his dad.” Finally comes ‘I Couldn’t Do It’, which is again damned by its introduction: “If I had a car crash I want to have it with you.”

Thankfully, there is also a second category of more sophisticated fare. Typifying this is ‘If You Don’t Know By Now’. Without being too patronising, it is the adult to ‘My Gay Cousin’s’ child. It has a moody air and a certain edginess that is a pleasant contrast to White’s usual in-your-face idealism and optimism.

The third, and final, type of Andy White song is the best. This is where it all comes together perfectly. ‘It’s Gonna Be Like This All the Time’ and ‘Jacqui’ belong in this category. The former, as the title implies, is one of those idealistic-optimistic pieces White loves to write. This time, though, the poppy melody and fanciful words form an enchanting combination. This is a lovely creation. Then there is the contrasting ‘Jacqui’, which is a dark love song, and makes reference to Ireland’s Troubles. It is definitely the standout track and is well complemented by Tim Finn’s backup vocals. And this time the refrain is compelling: “Jacqui you could make a man out of nothing at all/Jacqui sets me free.”

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