On Love Yes, Brooklyn quartet TEEN have largely left behind the garage rock and psych influences of their earlier work, and a new focus on 80s synth-pop and new wave obscures most of their R&B references. The synths and electronic drums are really just ornamentation for the actual core of their sound, though: their idiosyncratic songwriting and the eerie beauty of the supernatural sibling harmonies by the three Lieberson sisters.
Kristina “Teeny” Lieberson wrote much of the material on Love Yes at her mother’s place in rural Kentucky, and the entire band also hid out in a cabin in Woodstock to work on writing. They continued to avoid the distractions of urban life by recording in Nova Scotia, where Teeny grew up with sisters Katherine and Lizzie, the children of modern composer Peter Lieberson and folksinger Ellen Kearney. (Bassist Boshra AlSaadi rounds out the lineup.)
While the electro-pop textures that dominate the record are the polar opposite of the cabin album stereotype, you get the sense these songs could work just as well on acoustic instruments. They recorded most of it live-off-the-floor, an odd choice for electronic pop, but that fluid immediacy helps keep the emotional core of the songs near the surface. The first half of the record is very hook-heavy and pop, while on the latter half they indulge more of their off-kilter prog impulses.
The complexity of some of the arrangements and the bouncy danceability of most of the songs make it easy to overlook the lyrics initially, but with repeated listens they start sinking in. Feminist themes recur, often expressed through a storytelling approach that balances the personal with larger themes. It makes for a subtly political record that also happens to be a lot of fun to dance to.
Top track: Gone For Good
TEEN playing the Silver Dollar Tuesday (April 5). See listing.
