Through their visceral lyrical content, gritty sonic edge, and intimate explorations of romance and rage, Australian outfit Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers have defined themselves as one of indie rock’s most fearless acts. The Canberra-based group— composed of Anna Ryan (vocals/guitar), Scarlett McKahey (guitar/vocals), Jaida Stephenson (bass), and Neve van Boxsel (drums)—musically captures the glimmering essence of smudged lipstick, leather jackets, and unapologetic confidence. Their second studio album GLORY, out Friday through Mom + Pop Music, adopts a more glitter grunge sonic identity compared to the indie rock influences found on their 2023 debut LP, I Love You.
Across 10 tracks, GLORY exudes and instills power, energy, and unbridled honesty. It’s the music that plays when you’re fixing your makeup in the dimly lit club bathroom. It contains the anthems that blast over buzzing, sweaty crowds. When you stub out your cigarette to run back into the bar because they’re playing your favorite song, GLORY is what follows in your shadow. Produced by Catherine Marks, Teen Jesus wrote the album over five weeks, locking themselves in solitude deep in the Central Coast of Australia and away from the outside world.
“She was incredible,” Ryan gushes about working with Marks. “She was just locked in the whole time. And as soon as we got there to the studio, we clicked straight away. I think it’s sometimes been hard in the past when you really can click with someone, because then there’s a line of, ‘Are we just friends or is this professional? Are you still going to work really hard on this?’ But she was so locked in straight away, while also being awesome. It was a pretty good outcome.”
Known for her work with the likes of boygenius, The Killers, Wolf Alice, and PJ Harvey, Marks allowed the band to feel empowered to say ‘no’ and explore the sound and themes of this new record with complete artistic freedom. Even with the band’s decision to lock themselves away for a straight five weeks to work on GLORY, Marks was the perfect collaborator.
“She said that she’d never done a recording stint for that long, but we were under the pump, and we really wanted to get it done,” Ryan says. “And she said she could do it, she was a legend, and she pulled it off, which is crazy. It was getting down to the last week, and we were nervous because we still had a couple songs to go, and we were just like, ‘My God, it’s not going to work.’ But I don’t know how she did it. She was incredible, and she got it done. And we were so happy.”
Compared to their critically acclaimed debut album I Love You, which balanced an infectious blend of indie punk and bubblegum pop, GLORY conveys Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers embracing a more experimental and diverse range of influences while portraying the band’s musical growth and maturity.
“With our last album and the EP [2002’s Pretty Good for a Girl Band], we were sort of just getting the music out there that we had written over the years,” Ryan says. “We were proud of these songs, and we wanted everybody to hear them. But I don’t think there was a whole heap of thought into the actual process, because we had a bunch of songs. We wrote some for the album, for sure, but with GLORY, everything is very intentional. I think you can tell that all the songs sound like they’re supposed to be together, which is really awesome. I think you can listen to it and be like, ‘Yes, they were away for five weeks doing this.’ It’s all so cohesive.”
Through its distinct tracks, which all explore concepts like relationships, toxic men, and power, Ryan says that GLORY is, in so many words, a hot album.
“I think the main theme of the album…is just being super confident in yourself and super confident in our music,” Ryan says. “I love that you can dance to it. It’s very danceable. I’ve struggled in the past writing dancey songs that you can actually jam along to. I think we sort of wanted to fit into a particular genre in the last album. But this one, we were sort of just not really thinking about that. We just want to make good songs and fun songs.”
GLORY seems to be the perfect name for the band’s latest album, as they are currently basking in the success of touring across the world alongside rock’s biggest names, a highly anticipated sophomore album release, and an upcoming album tour across Australia and New Zealand next year. After nearly a decade of making music together, the latest LP from Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers shows their desire for writing profound indie rock ragers and their close bond as bandmates hasn’t wavered.
“I think we’re just super stoked with everything that’s happening right now,” Ryan says. “Sort of seeing that play out is really awesome. I think we’re all feeling very motivated towards this album. We’ve gone through waves of all different emotions towards the band. We’ve been a band for almost 10 years now. But we’ve all got a very one-track mind, getting this album out, and we’re super excited to play all of these songs live and really curate an awesome set list. We’re thinking about all the creative stuff a lot more, how we can make the show really entertaining and fun for everyone. I’m feeling super, super excited about all of that.”
Glory is out Friday through Mom + Pop Music and you can pre-order it from the band here. Follow Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for future updates.
