Toronto’s esteemed DIY scene purveyors, Teenanger have shared their new single Touching Glass. This is first track to be lifted from their forthcoming sixth album ‘Good Time’ which is out via Telephone Explosion Records on October 2, 2020. You can listen to Touching Glass via YouTube below.
The new record, which comes mixed by renowned Toronto musician, Sandro Perri, follows previous releases that have found the band share stages across North America and Europe with the likes of METZ, Ty Segall, Death From Above, Dilly Dally, Dish Pit and more.
Touching Glass, the album’s first take, splices the group’s more strident post-punk aesthetic with a new pop-focused approach, filled with chugging guitar riffs and arresting melodies. Although eliciting lighter sounds than with their previous releases, ‘Good Time’ and Touching Glass refuse to shy away from the band’s ear for social commentary and wish to weigh in on contemporary issues.
Speaking about the new track, Melissa Ball of the band says: “I was thinking about John Carpenter’s 1988 classic ‘They Live’ (starring Roddy Piper) before I wrote these lyrics so I guess I had that plot in the back of my mind. It’s pretty straight forward lyrically and partly about the fear of mind control and my frustrations with being tethered to/tired with my phone.”
‘Good Time’ arrives off the back of a turbulent few years for the group, a period filled with self-reflection, a restless search for creativity and more than anything, a need to rewire the very essence of the band. The four-piece had tied up the rinse and repeat promotional run for their 2017 self-titled record in the spring of 2018; their fifth album, which had started to find them some acclaim, also marked their first decade together as a group, quite an achievement by anyone’s measures in the current climate. The line-up was unchanged since Teenanger’s inception, and the members had become somewhat inseparable over their time together; whilst the album release and the corresponding tour was somewhat celebratory, it also brought with it a severe bout of writer’s block that unexpectedly placed their existence in jeopardy.
A testament to the rigorous DIY ethos of Teenanger that forges its core values, the band was rooted in the same rehearsal room that they had used since their early days together – a revolving door of local acts shared the space and it took fracturing this routine to find inspiration for ‘Good Time’. One Craigslist advertisement offered an apartment for rent with the words: “Music OK”, Teenanger seized the opportunity and thus “Studio Z” was coined, a basement flat that previously worked as a reggae studio/after-hours club was converted by the four-piece into a live practice room and adjacent fully-functional recording studio. The band went on to battle two major floods, a CO2 leak, vermin infestation and constant mould to record the new album.
‘Good Time’ track listing
1. Beige
2. Trillium Song
3. Pleasure
4. Romance For Rent
5. Straight To Computer
6. Good Time
7. Touching Glass
8. The Drain
‘Good Time’ is out on October 2nd via Telephone Explosion. It’s available for pre-order here.
