Name: TeenFrom: Brooklyn, New York
Story: Ex-Here We Go Magic sister act
Sound: Noisy, lo-fi, fuzzed-out experiments
Teeny Lieberson spent a stint in Here We Go Magic, but left the band in 2011 to form her own: Teen. The project was clearly close to her heart: the new project was based around the collaboration between Teeny and her two sisters, Lizzie and Catherine.
After turning out a rough-and-fuzzy EP, Little Doods (which you can hear on the link to their Bandcamp below), to mark their existence, Teen have made a more definitive statement on In Limbo, their first full-length offering. Produced by ex-Spacemen 3 reprobate Pete 'Sonic Boom' Kember, it's an album more dark and psychedelic than Teen's name —and girl-group make-up— might suggest.
Where the fuzz on their self-recorded EP seemed incidental, merely the product of the tools at hand, In Limbo uses saturated sounds to convey a cluttered, almost threatening atmosphere. Epic closer "Fire" is one of the more friendly moments —a sweet, synthy pop-song set to a Phil Spector backbeat— but the synths wobble perversely, the guitar snarls, noise permeates throughout, and a think, oppressive air permeates even the sweet sororal harmonies.
The rest of the LP plays like this, and it makes In Limbo an odd proposition for 2012: it's an indie-pop album, at least nominally, that demands you sit with it for a moment; that draws back where so many other acts leap forward. For those merely skipping through online streams, they may not catch the ear; but Teen's debut LP is worth spending some quality hours with.
- Download: Teen, "Electric"
- Stream: Teen, "Better"
- Visit: Teen on Bandcamp
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