Teen Suicide-I Will Be My Own Hell... LP (2012)

The sentence-long title and appropriately washed out Polaroid cover art are a dead give away that Teen Suicide is moving past the ramalama Ramonesisms of the Goblin Problem EP on their first full length.

Sho' 'nuff, the ten songs run the gamut between ambient noodlings ("Anne") and contorted stabs at post-rock ("Dead Bird Skeleton"). Even the songs that most clearly hearken back to "Teen Goblin" ("Dan Collins vs....", "Dead Bird Skeleton") slow the pace down and grind on a mid-tempo beat.

"Cop Graveyard" oes in for an infectious synth-and-kick drum minimalism, paired with whispered vocals, that makes it the best track here. One could easily pass out in a pool of one's own vomit while playing it as a night capper. "Swallow," the closer, echoes "I wanna be a witch," from the Goblin Problems EP: tender acoustic guitar and mumble-mouthed vocals make it the sort of thing all you young'uns could put on a mixtape for yr favorite girl/boy/whatever before asking 'em out.

To conclude, the LP finds Teen Suicide branching out, with mixed results. I could do without some of the emoisms ("Give me back to the sky" in particular is awkward), and most of the synthesizer-based tracks feel like rough sketches, not fully-developed songs. In general, it feels like a collection of songs more than a unitary album. Nevertheless, "I Will Be..." shows Teen Suicide's ambition, and I'm curious to hear what they dish out next.

Listen to, download, and buy the LP here.

No Trend-Teen Love 7" (1983)

I'm often accused of being a misanthrope. That's probably true, BUT!: compared to No Trend (or at least the version of No Trend presented on this and their first LP, 1984's "Too Many Humans"), I'm a hippy.

NT was infamous in the mid-80s US punk scene for their obnoxious performances (including the use of blinding runway lights to separate themselves from the audience) and unpredictable, consistently contrarian albums.

This is by far my favorite: three tracks of trudging, grinding noise that gives you a good sense of why Lydia Lunch later collaborated with the band. "Teen Love" is a touching tale of teen stupidity in Reagan's America: the first two tracks, "Mass Sterilization (Caused by Venereal Disease" and "Cancer," sound like they read: vicious, gleefully nihilistic noise.

Throw this slab of puerile misanthropy on if your week has been as bad as mine. Enjoy!

There's an interesting oral history of the band up on the NY Press website; the interview that Ratcharge did with an ex-bassist is also worth reading.

Bands and musicians who have sent me stuff recently: Have patience, your stuff will be reviewed eventually.

Teen Suicide-Goblin Problems EP (2012)

From its crudely-drawn cover to the Ramonesesque ramalama bambam of the music, Teen Suicide's three-song EP is probably the funnest thing I've heard all June.

"Goblins cry too" is sunny blitzkrieg bop that tears by in a flash: guitar and drums are sync'd up perfectly, and the beat reminds me of the Go-Gos, for some reason. The vocal harmonies don't hurt the sunny feel, either. "Hayden's getting a ddr pad" is punk-by-numbers: fast, blurry, bratty 3-chord schlock. "I wanna be a witch" is the unexpected gem here: gently-strummed acoustic guitar, tambourine, and muffled, sad bastard vocals give this EP a depth it would otherwise lack, and moves this duo beyond the wound up garage punk they excel at. It really reminds me of the last track on Sonic Death's most recent EP.

You can download the EP for free on bandcamp. Check out the previous two Teen Suicide releases, too, while yr at it. Rock on!