Rocker (feedbot)
Platinum Member
The most immediately notable aspect of Teen Suicide’s latest offering – ‘Nude Descending A Staircase Headless’ – is that the production value is great. This is worth pointing out as the band initially made a name for themselves as a lo-fi project; ‘NDASH’ is the first time that Teen Suicide have released anything that wasn’t produced in-house. Far from using this as a reason to shed the layers of sonic texture that lend character to lo-fi production, Teen Suicide have taken the opportunity to fill the clean space of professional production with tightly controlled noise. The result is an open sound, sonically and emotionally, which churns with chaos and discord without ever becoming claustrophobic.
Lead single ‘Idiot’ outlines the album’s fundamental spirit. The opening off-mic “You ready?” gives the impression of a spontaneous live recording. Add in the thudding math and post-hardcore riff that dominates the song’s first half, and the dramatic change in dynamics that occurs in the second, and you soon have many of the elements that are found throughout the subsequent record. Sam and Kitty Ray join together on vocal tracks in the song’s quieter moments, to deliver a repeated mantra that summarises the ethos of the record itself: “Even though a part of me has died, I still want to try”.
There is an urgency to many of the key Kitty tracks here – there’s pure rage in songs like ‘Candy / Squeeze’ and ‘Keeping Her Keys’, but also a softer tone in tracks such as ‘Spiders’ and ‘Hypnotic Poison’. The latter is led by an electronic drumbeat and a warm bassline that rises to frantic peaks. But it is best defined by its quieter, intimate moments. The opening guitars on ‘Spiders’ ring with reverb, as do Ray’s vocals, which are floatingly unhurried. When the louder guitars rise up underneath, they build and release tension in equal measure to create a chorus that blends harshness with something far softer.
Textures meet and intertwine throughout ‘NDASH’. ‘Kindnesses’ takes a clean acoustic guitar signal and a distorted flanged signal and allows the contrast between the two – inseparable yet divorced – to underpin a quiet, emotional song with layers reminiscent of The Microphones. Album opener ‘Anhedonia’ whispers wailing feedback loops under its quiet guitars. The noise is screaming, muffled and waiting to be unleashed. When it does, the dynamic rises – not frantic, just larger and all-encompassing – still holding back those wails of feedback until its closing moments when the noise finally overcomes the music.
If the album opens with Teen Suicide flexing their sonic muscles, ‘NDASH’ closes with Sam Ray returning to his roots on ‘Come And See The Clown’. It’s short – under two minutes – and stripped back, all vocals and acoustic guitar, no embellishments. It’s mournful and hopeful in equal measure, putting Ray in the position of Pagliacci, the sad clown, performing for others while unable to see the funny side. And yet, the album closes on the words “we pray to God he never stops” – Ray is both the performer and audience, finally able to witness himself.
‘Nude Descending A Staircase Headless’ has the energy of a lo-fi album, but it is never pretending to be anything other than what it is: wistful, yearning, emotionally open and filled with lush textural details that never outstay their welcome. As bold as it is to move away from their lo-fi roots, Teen Suicide have shown here that neither their songwriting, nor their spirit, are tied to their production – both are thriving in this new world.
WILL BRIGHT
Lead single ‘Idiot’ outlines the album’s fundamental spirit. The opening off-mic “You ready?” gives the impression of a spontaneous live recording. Add in the thudding math and post-hardcore riff that dominates the song’s first half, and the dramatic change in dynamics that occurs in the second, and you soon have many of the elements that are found throughout the subsequent record. Sam and Kitty Ray join together on vocal tracks in the song’s quieter moments, to deliver a repeated mantra that summarises the ethos of the record itself: “Even though a part of me has died, I still want to try”.
There is an urgency to many of the key Kitty tracks here – there’s pure rage in songs like ‘Candy / Squeeze’ and ‘Keeping Her Keys’, but also a softer tone in tracks such as ‘Spiders’ and ‘Hypnotic Poison’. The latter is led by an electronic drumbeat and a warm bassline that rises to frantic peaks. But it is best defined by its quieter, intimate moments. The opening guitars on ‘Spiders’ ring with reverb, as do Ray’s vocals, which are floatingly unhurried. When the louder guitars rise up underneath, they build and release tension in equal measure to create a chorus that blends harshness with something far softer.
Textures meet and intertwine throughout ‘NDASH’. ‘Kindnesses’ takes a clean acoustic guitar signal and a distorted flanged signal and allows the contrast between the two – inseparable yet divorced – to underpin a quiet, emotional song with layers reminiscent of The Microphones. Album opener ‘Anhedonia’ whispers wailing feedback loops under its quiet guitars. The noise is screaming, muffled and waiting to be unleashed. When it does, the dynamic rises – not frantic, just larger and all-encompassing – still holding back those wails of feedback until its closing moments when the noise finally overcomes the music.
If the album opens with Teen Suicide flexing their sonic muscles, ‘NDASH’ closes with Sam Ray returning to his roots on ‘Come And See The Clown’. It’s short – under two minutes – and stripped back, all vocals and acoustic guitar, no embellishments. It’s mournful and hopeful in equal measure, putting Ray in the position of Pagliacci, the sad clown, performing for others while unable to see the funny side. And yet, the album closes on the words “we pray to God he never stops” – Ray is both the performer and audience, finally able to witness himself.
‘Nude Descending A Staircase Headless’ has the energy of a lo-fi album, but it is never pretending to be anything other than what it is: wistful, yearning, emotionally open and filled with lush textural details that never outstay their welcome. As bold as it is to move away from their lo-fi roots, Teen Suicide have shown here that neither their songwriting, nor their spirit, are tied to their production – both are thriving in this new world.
WILL BRIGHT