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Photo: @sheisaphrodite

Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are bringing back punk with a modern, alt-pop edge. 

The four-piece band from Australia has been gearing up for their debut album, I Love You, set to release October 6, with a series of standout singles. Bristling with garage-punk indifference and gritty guitar riffs, this is a budding discography of songs that demands your attention. 

“Salt,” the band's most recent release, kicks off with an acoustic guitar intro that will instantly transport listeners back to the halcyon days of 2000s pop rock, reminiscent of Lifehouse or Fuel. Then, the second chorus breakdown opens into a punky, feedback-fueled landscape of the angsty instrumentals. Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers pair scream-sung, gloriously unpolished vocals with a cyclical guitar riff for a raw, bittersweet feeling. The heart of “Salt” aches, even while it stands up with its chest out—stubborn and sensitive all at once. “Salt” also features The Grogans, introducing us to another genre-bending outfit from Australia. 

“I Used To Be Fun” is the song for the 20-something-year-olds—not old enough to have their shit together but not young enough to blow off responsibilities anymore. Listeners will get lost in the catharsis of that tireless, garage-punk drum groove driving the tune forward (and I have a feeling this is the song the mosh pit will break out to). 

“Never Saw It Coming” reveals a softer side of the band, as they tell an all-too-familiar story of someone you loved abusing your trust. A string arrangement accompanies the light guitar strumming of the ballad. “In 7 years I’ll be okay, coz that’s when my cells will regenerate / So you wouldn’t have touched my skin / I’ll make sure to scrub wherever you’ve been,” sings the band. There’s still the telltale intensity of Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers within the song, which builds gradually to a peak but never boils over with rage. 

On the other hand, their single “Lights Out” is the sonic embodiment of the DIY, alternative music experience. It supplants you in the dim seduction of a basement show, dancing in the residue of spilled beer on a concrete floor, music waking up some neighborhood outside the city. The guitars ripple with overdrive, matching the growl of the vocals step-for-step. It leaves listeners with the pure adrenaline that Teen Jesus and Jean Teasers inject into their revolutionary punk fusions.