Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are thrilled to share the news that they have signed with New York-based record label Mom + Pop Music for the world ex-AU/NZ and with Warner Chappell for publishing. Mom + Pop Music’s Co-President Thaddeus Rudd shared, “We proudly welcome Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers to Mom + Pop. Their songs captivate us with their wit, charm, and honesty. Since the release of their debut LP, the band has been making exciting moves, including playing headlining shows at home in Australia and opening for Foo Fighters. We are excited to be part of their US debut in September.”
The band are heading to the United States for the first time ever this September to play Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival alongside Pearl Jam, Alanis Morissette, IDLES, Kim Gordon, The Breeders and more. In addition, they’ve announced a New York club date at Mercury Lounge on September 26th as well as an LA club date on October 1st at The Echo. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, August 9 at 10am Local, and fans can sign up HERE for presale access launching Thursday August 8 at 10am Local.
Along with news of the signing and US shows, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are excited to be releasing a deluxe edition of their critically acclaimed debut album I Love You. Aptly titled I Love You Too, the extended version of the LP will be released on September 20th via their new partnership with Mom + Pop Music and will feature three brand new songs, “Please Me,” “we thought it would be a good time but it was a bad time,” and today’s single “Dull” feat. Canadian ‘riotgaze’ twin sibling duo Softcult - stream/watch HERE.
Since the release of I Love You last October, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers have been an unstoppable force. They were tapped by the Foo Fighters in December to open on several of their Australian shows after wowing UK crowds at The Great Escape Festival in May. They were named one of Spotify’s “Artists to Watch” earlier this year and just last week they won the 2024 AIR Award for “Best Independent Rock Album or EP” for I Love You.
The album originally debuted at #6 on the main ARIA Chart and the awards and nominations quickly came in. They were nominated for “Best New Artist” at the Rolling Stone Awards, “Best New Artist” and “Emerging Artist of the Year” at the APRA Awards and “Australian Album of the Year” at the J Awards, while winning “Artist of the Year” at the Music ACT Music Awards. Album single “I Used To Be Fun” hit #52 on the Hottest 100 and was nominated for “Best Single” at the Rolling Stone Awards, “Song of the Year” at the APRA Awards, and “Independent Song of the Year” at the 2023 AIR Awards.
“Dull (feat. Softcult)” is intensely warm and melodic, and thematically a companion-song of sorts to “I Used To Be Fun.” On “Dull” Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers take the more challenging route of sitting still with your own thoughts, rather than working overtime to keep busy in a thinly veiled bid to distract yourself from them.
The band’s Anna Ryanshares, “Dull has similar themes to ‘I Used To Be Fun.’ We had been talking about how it feels to not have that motivation like we used to, to go out and party, and that it’s often harder to sit with yourself and be alone with your thoughts rather than just distracting yourself with thing after thing! The lyrics ‘find it hard to take it slow, burning out and now it’s shows’ really resonates with me and I think it’s like coming to terms with the fact that distracting yourself constantly is unsustainable. It’s good to learn to just sit with stuff and take it frikken easy!!”
On collaborating with Softcult - aka the Ontario, Canada-based grunge duo made up of twin sisters Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn - the band says, “We’ve been fans of Soltcult from afar for a long time, when they said they were keen to record some parts for the song we were stoked! We are SO happy with how it turned out.”
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers stepped into new sonic territory on I Love You to create an expansive debut album well beyond their years. The individual strengths of their four distinct personalities in the band shine through, with their core dynamic based on a shared love and mutual respect for each other’s work ethic and talent. This continues on I Love You Too, with the three new songs showcasing the breadth of their craft spanning the delicate melodic moments on “Dull” to the riot grrl-inspired wall-to-wall gang vocals on “Please Me.” This is a band never to be pigeonholed, and definitely never underestimated.
Formed during high school in their hometown of Canberra in 2019, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers - Anna Ryan (they/them; vocals/guitar), Scarlett McKahey (she/her; guitar/vocals), Jaida Stephenson (she/her; bass) and Neve van Boxsel (she/her; drums) - made their mark with their debut EP Pretty Good For A Girl Band (2022), which won “Best Independent Punk Album/EP” at the AIR Awards, featured “Girl Sports” that landed at #55 on the triple j Hottest 100, and saw praise from Teen Vogue, The Guardian, triple j, The AU Review, Music Feeds, The Music and Kill Your Stereo among others.
The band have since graduated into an astute group of early twenty-somethings, just as concerned about issues facing today’s women, non-binary people and young people everywhere as they are with making music that continues to push the boundaries.
