Photography by Ruby Boland
Teen Jesus and The Jean Teasers on the stigma of ‘girl bands’ 2022 has kicked off to a blistering start for Teen Jesus and The Jean Teasers. Words By Alex Callan
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Having already impressed festival crowds nationwide over the summer, the band now have their eyes set on the group’s most monumental move yet: releasing a full-length release. Known for their gritty grunge pop paired with unapologetic lyricism, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are four friends from Canberra who met in high school and have burst into the Australian music scene with infectious energy. “I’m actually so excited,” says the group’s guitar player Scarlett McKahey, “It’s really strange to have something proper that we are actually releasing because until now we have only really done singles here and there. Especially after Covid, it just doesn’t really feel like something that can happen so I’m really excited. “It’s definitely the thing we have worked on the most, probably in our whole lives. We’ve really put our all into it which is really nerve-wracking, but I also feel like we are at this point now where we don’t really care what people think of it because we really like it.” With their single from last year ‘AHHHH!’ already sitting at over a million and a half streams and ‘Girl Sports’ looking in good stead to do the same, it seems Teen Jesus are quickly becoming one of the hottest bands in the country. Although, considering they are gearing up to release their debut EP Pretty Good For A Girl Band, that’s a strange analysis, given there’s still no telling the scope that Teen Jesus will attain. What we do know is they’re already getting noticed by the likes of The Foo Fighters and have signed to James Tidswell’s label Domestic La La. They’ve played festivals including BIGSOUND, Groovin’ The Moo, Laneway, Falls, Lost Paradise and Spilt Milk - just to name a few. They’re set to take their new EP on the road for their Pretty Good For A Girl Band Tour that will see them performing around the country in August, before landing in Melbourne for a show at The Corner Hotel on September 2. Expanding further on their forthcoming EP and its change in style, Scarlett said, “I don’t think we’ll go too far from our roots and what we like to write about, which is kind of teenage, like cringe stuff, ya know, like cute stuff. But now we are also kind of sick of being treated a certain way all the time. We’re kind of getting into our angry stage of ‘Stop calling us a chick band,’ but then also that whole, ‘aww, love you’ side.
“There’s a good balance in the songs because there are five songs on the EP and every one has a different tone to it.” With the EP’s title a protest against the macho bullshit attached to the male-dominated music industry and ‘Girl Sports’ a response to a male dentist who once told the group’s bass player Jaida to stick to “girl sports” after knocking her teeth out skating, it seems pretty clear that Pretty Good For A Girlband is much more than a collection of songs, it’s a statement. “The biggest thing that we want people to take away from it is that we just want to be taken seriously, I think this EP really does that,” states Scarlett. “Like I said before, we have really put our all into it and then even the title being Pretty Good For A Girl Band, we just don’t want to be known as that. I mean, we’re a band, not a girl band. “We’re not trying to cancel anyone or get mad at anyone, we just want to make people think a little bit or even to just think ‘Oh, Teen Jesus are good’ and not ‘good for’.” When discussing the labels that the band get lumped with (with one recent review even commending Violent Soho for taking a “group of girls” who “lacked experience” on tour with them), we discussed the notion of ‘boy bands’ and how they differ from the stigmas attached to ‘girl bands’. “I actually love the term ‘boy band’, but then you think about it and it’s like, well is Dear Seattle a boy band? Yes, they are. I’m just going to start referring to all-male bands as boy bands because if you can’t beat them, join them.” Pretty Good For A Girl Band is out now through Domestic La La. They’ll be playing at The Corner Hotel on September 2, tickets on sale now.
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