INTRODUCING: Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers

Australian rockers TEEN JESUS AND THE JEAN TEASERS have just released their debut album I Love You and it is a glorious collection of high octane, riot grrrrl inspired punk rock. We caught up with vocalist Anna Ryan to get the lowdown on both the band and the album.

As it is the band’s first album, the release of I Love You is a very big occasion for TEEN JESUS AND THE JEAN TEASERS and one that Anna and the band have been looking forward to celebrating. “We are so excited and so proud, it feels insane that it’s even happening. We cannot  wait to celebrate with everyone that made it possible.”

Anna then tells us about feeling pressure when making the album as they wanted to make a statement being it is their debut. “I think every artist feels pressure when releasing any form of music but we worked on it for a long time and in the end we just stuck to our guts and we are really happy with how it turned out.”

We then touched upon what the songs on the album are about and Anna tells us about the diversity of emotions that the songs on I Love You cover. “The album literally has a song for every emotion. It has everything from heartbreak to anger to love to hate and appreciation of each other. A well rounded emotional experience.”

Fellow Australian band THE GROGANS feature on I Love You on the album track Salt and Anna enthuses about the experience of working with them on the song. “We fucking LOVE those sweet boys. We had the best time touring with them and just knew they would be the perfect addition to the album. They were so keen to help out and we had the best most wholesome times in the studio with them. Cannot imagine Salt without them on it.”

Anna goes on to describe the biggest influences on the sound of I Love You. “This album has a bunch of influences but some that are worth mentioning would be WET LEG, THE STROKES, BEABADOOBEE, ARCTIC MONKEYS. We are also constantly influenced by all the awesome artists and besties we play with on a regular basis.”

TEEN JESUS AND THE JEAN TEASERS released their debut EP, Pretty Good For A Girl Band last year and Anna goes on to tell us how the band have grown musically in the time from that initial release to I Love You. “I think we have definitely grown since our EP. Pretty Good For A Girl Band was definitely a good introduction to the TEEN JESUS… sound but this album has a little bit of everything and really shows every side of us and what we are capable of musically.”

Talk then turns to live shows and if I Love You will be played in full at the bands upcoming live shows as Anna reveals. “We will be playing almost the full album at these shows as well as some classic TEEN JESUS AND THE JEAN TEASERS numbers. But it’s always good to keep a lil’ track or two just for the real ones to enjoy in their own time.”

TEEN JESUS AND THE JEAN TEASERS are  supporting THE VACCINES on their extensive European tour next year and Anna is certainly excited for the tour. “Holy moly, we are so keen and cannot believe how many beautiful places we will get to see. A country a day keeps the doctor away. But for real what a treat we are so stoked and can’t wait.”

The band are also supporting the FOO FIGHTERS at the end of the year in Melbourne and as you may expect, Anna is extremely excited about that one as they tell us. “What a way to wrap up the year. We are so pumped and also mildly shitting our pants. We have been rehearsing how we are going to play it cool when we meet them. It’s such an incredible opportunity and we still can’t believe it’s happening.”

Anna then reveals which have been their most memorable gigs so far with TEEN JESUS AND THE JEAN TEASERS. “I think the most surreal and memorable show was when we played our first show in Paris in maybe a 200 cap room and everyone was singing along and going so hard. Someone was even crowd surfing and I just remember having a ‘how did I get here’ moment and felt so damn happy.”

On the subject of favourite places to play live shows, Anna mentions somewhere close to home but these shores as well. “I think definitely the UK brought so much energy to our shows which was awesome. I absolutely loved playing in Brighton but back home you absolutely can’t go wrong with the big smoke of Melbourne. Something about it is just so wholesome and lovely.”

We finish off this great introduction to TEEN JESUS AND THE JEAN TEASERS, with Anna telling us about their biggest influences as a vocalist. “There have been so many artists that have influenced us over the years. Me personally I wouldn’t be as comfortable as I am today on stage without having influences like Maz, formerly of WAAX, and Amy from AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS because they are both absolute powerhouses and their energy is UNMATCHED!”

I Love You is out now via Domestic La La.

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