Album: Reality Check
Year: 2008
. . .
I assume that if the French synth-pop band The Teenagers are remembered at all, it’s probably for “Homecoming,” their incredibly crude update of “Summer Loving,” or their star-fucking wishsong, “Starlett Johansson,” both of which might have made Frankie Lymon consider suing from the afterlife for stealing his moniker.
But for me, the song that stuck out was “Feeling Better,” a half-cynical, half-sincere plea for stans, which opens with a naggingly familiar chord change and a ridiculously catchy chorus. Said chorus leverages The Handclap Rule — handclaps make good songs great and great songs immortal — in a pretty fantastic way.
Who’s there for you when you’re cold and alone
The teenagers, the teenagers
We’re playing our songs and you’re dancing along
You’re feeling better, feeling better
At first, lead singer Quentin Delafon acts as there’s a really great reason to be a fan of the Teenagers, even outside of dancing to their songs, as he speak-sings the first verse.
Here’s the plan
We want to heal the world
To make it a better place
For you and your friends, all together
Might sound cheesy but, always remember:
But, of course, by the time the second verse is over, he’s completely reversed his position.
Well, we don’t care
Just buy our t-shirts and talk about us everywhere
If you wanna
But it’s also at this point where something remarkable happens: the guitarist starts quoting the guitar riff from New Order’s ageless and timeless “Ceremony,” while Delafon chants “dance dance dance dance dance dance dance” — a reference to Joy Divisions almost-as-timeless “Transmission” — and it kills me so much I don’t care how cynical it is.
Am I that much in the tank for “Ceremony” that I will write about this inferior in every way band and and inferior in every way song just because they just steal from it? Duh. It also helps that they repeat the chorus a few times as well.
“Feeling Better”
“Feeling Better” Official Music Video
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