"I Need Direction" is just the sort of song-title forewarning that a band has suddenly fallen out of love with itself and is about to shoot off on some ill-advised, creative tangential excursion into choppy uncharted waters. But this is Teenage Fanclub. And "I Need Direction" is the reassuringly familiar sound of a group which, unlike one of their principle sources of inspiration--Neil Young--has no intention of getting sued by it's record label for issuing unrepresentative material. So it's a great big "Hello", or Howdy!, to the branded, jangling Byrdsian pop of Messrs Love, Blake and McGinley (who all contribute four songs each) and their corona-fringed melodies, pealing Caledonia-meets-California harmonies and guitars which spray the warmth of July like a well-shaken bottle of carbonated sunshine. Even the semi-glumness of the brilliant "Happiness" ("Can't find a smile, got one to lend me?"), with its down-in-the-mouth "Paint Your Wagon" harmonica, is an audio cure for Seasonal Affective Disorder on an album several times chirpier than an aviary of well-fed budgies. --Kevin Maidment