Sometimes weakness is in peace. New example: tea. The quartet, which comes from the barren no man’s land between Dallas and Austin, is slowly playing the majority of his songs. But the group does not only seem to be decelerating on their second album Magic of the Sale. Because even in the opener “Tires & Bookmarks”, lethargy is the program.
Recommendations of the editorial team
The band’s slowcore is also rather cumbersome in other pieces, writes Melancholy Groß. Stylistically, this music provokes comparisons with the early work of the Slowcore pioneers low. But you also hear a pedal steel guitar, a cello, a piano and a clarinet. Teethe are by no means committed to minimalism. Rather, Magic of the Sale shows that many of their songs are connected to Americana and indie rock. “Holy Water” even rattles properly, here the noise rock sounds anything but weak. “Anywhere”, on the other hand, has a tired and fragile note.
Other pieces are dissolved, some are reminiscent of Bright Eyes, at least as far as the instrumentation is concerned. While Conor Colonel (on the label of which the band already published a single in 2023), formerly loudly, one of the trademarks of Teethe is more of a decidedly quiet and demonstratively reserved singing: Madeline Dowd and the three men whisper more than they sing. Her new songs decline pain, but also devote themselves to its relief. The second half of the album looks more hopeful. An accomplished, melodic and striking multifaceted Slowcore plate.
This review first appeared in the MusikExpress 09/2025.