"this aisle is so full of carbs / they're screaming out to be absorbed /my tits make me wear a shirt to bed (yeah)..."
Local Teen is the nom de scène of Long Beach, Long Island New York bred Micah Long Ox and I got a kick out of the track "Supermarket Shuffle" (I only dance in Publix) not only because Publix (that we fondly called Pubics) was our local supermarket place to go in Georgia but that Micah's unbridled dynamic energy and oddly inventive words and sort of lo-fi cinema-scape on this song about (in his own words):
["Sex and supermarkets. It's a song about not dancing in public, except in supermarkets, specifically Publix(which is in Florida, which is where the narrator of the song looses his virginity which was behind a super market). And male body shame."]
...brings to mind, the cheeky self reflective humor of artists like Jeff Rosenstock and Bomb The Music Industry! but also the kind of absurdist avante garde splash of let's say The Flaming Lips and the youthful surf punk vibrancy of Surf Curse. Now when I peruse Local Teen's new album "Falsely Accused" it is apparent that sonically there is not a direct connection to those two examples but in terms of Micah (distilling honest feelings with a touch of garage rock sounds pushed into weird places lyrically) his overall sound ends up being much more diverse than your average garage rock or punk (don't say pop punk) outfit. His askew take on things which is oftentimes funny (and sometimes in inappropriate ways- yea!) or even whimsical ways elevates the material.
Take "Found Belonging" with it's lo-fi divergent beat that falls away into a kind of sweet somber road song or end of life eulogy. This does not sound punk or garage rock but instead blends an almost inclusive tone- love the odd lyrical choices thrown into a more jubilant convention, into a sort of grand pop / chamber pop rock song. The mosh worth "Sloppy and Proud" feels celebratory and idiotic and almost lampoons garage rock / punk but is perfect in what it does and why did I think of Guided By Voices?
"Sweet Blast" is bending layers of garage rock explosions and ramping up downbeats. Like Japandroids in slow motion with effected vox. Noisy and orgasmic like Thee Oh Sees playing while facing Osees filtered through MGMT. The absolutely hyper kinetic cajole of "Insolation B.O." is an instrumental full tilt bit of spring reverbed punk, seriously rad with stretches of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard-esque psych rock guitar elegance and John Dwyer bends too. Epic stuff and would gleefully want to see this beneath amazing surf footage.
"Smelly Last Breath" has a great open busker punk stirred in with bits of doo wop punk and kind of Modest Mouse-ian absurdist punk jag. "Who is Your Daddy and What Does He Do?" is purposely silly and has sort of math rock tones chopped and diced with a touch of Sparks and Pink Floyd-ian psychedelia (seriously) and, once again, Micah's lyrics are a comically relevant and self aware. "Flojo" is beautifully stupid like if Zappa was garage punk but full of social commentary just the same. "Gentlemanly Mutilation" feels like a familiar take on So. Cal punk, the kind of thing you would hear on a weekly basis at The Smell in Los Angeles in 2010 but that's ok. It is the first track on this album and everything that follows it feels a bit more inspired.
In the end, "Falsely Accused" is wildly inventive and full of observations about life, at least Micah's view of life and the cosmic joke that it can be. There might be some missteps but there are some grand scenic views as well. The self deprecation of the communal "me" is felt and the musicality feels appropriately raw and sort of sloppy at times and incredibly tightly wound at other times. Perfection can be the thief of inspiration. Local Teen has pieces of tenderness and melancholia lurking behind the funny and maybe even cynicism, at least I can feel it. This is a great find.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/localteenmicah
https://shopping.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/localteenmicah/
https://twitter.com/localteenmicah
https://www.deezer.com/us/artist/14017135
https://www.youtube.com/LocalTeen
https://soundcloud.com/localteen
The life behind this noise has a lifelong ambition, That is to make the perfect punk record.
Poppy, punky, garagey but not "Pop Punk Garage" cuz that's embarrassing.
honesty can be really funny without having to try to be comedy if what you're saying makes you vulnerable or breaks an expectation people have for you
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