TEETH Blogs

Ivana Stab has a blog now and it must be pimped out for all to see. Have a look. And of course, ANNIE LY's blog is right here.

The Teenagers

Photo by ANNIE LY

The Teenagers existed in relative obscurity until very recently when their fusion of catchy pop songs, ridiculously cute French accents and deliciously ironic lyrics were noticed worldwide through the power of MySpace.

Saturday 14th June saw them perform the third show of their first Australian tour, this time at the Oxford Art Factory, home to Sydney’s tightest jeans and pointiest shoes. It was a sold-out show, leaving a line outside the venue and security guards warding off those without tickets trying to sweet-talk their way in.

Inside, after the support bands warmed up the crowd, The Teenagers hit the stage to a very enthusiastic audience. From the amount of people pushing their way closer to the stage and singing every word in sync with the band, one could assume The Teenagers had been around for decades. Such enthusiasm for a band is rare to witness nowadays at a gig that isn’t happening at Acer Arena. But any hope one had that the enthusiasm was there for the music withered when the band invited three girls on stage to be cheerleaders during the song Homecoming. The stage soon became packed with excited girls competing for the attention of their favourite band member and pushing one another to give kisses and pose for photos taken by their friends in the audience.

So all this enthusiasm, excitement and groupie-like hysteria for a band that has only just exposed their music to the world? The Teenagers have unfortunately been thrust into that dark world of Latest Hipster Fad. They’re one of those bands some people are afraid to admit liking because it’ll associate them with the screaming ‘fans’ who grind up against one another on stage next to someone ‘famous’ hoping that one day a photo of such antics will wind up on The Cobra Snake. Despite the fun songs they play, despite their stage charisma, despite their witty lyrics and lovable appearance, this is one aspect of their music career that will undoubtedly haunt them. It will sell records and t-shirts and tickets to places on the other side of the world from their hometown, but it will leave them branded as just another trend. The price of fame appears to be high in the new music environment.

IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT, WHY AREN'T I SLEEPING?!

We made a zine in fifteen minutes last night.

And you can find it all over Sydney. Or read it on our Flickr.

We love Kinko's on Oxford St. <3

TEETH Poetry

This is my face,
from outer space -
the Town Whore will now present
her speech: "they're going like
hotcakes, they are,
squire"
The end.

Ghostwood Farewell Show

Ghostwood are off to the UK! Their farewell show/fundraiser at the Oxford Art Factory last night showed just why the rest of the world needs to see this band live. Less than a year ago when TEETH first saw Ghostwood, they had packed out the Hopetoun Hotel. Yesterday the Oxford Art Factory, a much larger venue, was impossible to move through. Their gigs have become more intense, their songs more impressive and the extended version of “Rest My Soul” with a drum solo finish is amazing. Even the more familiar songs off the EP have gotten a make-over. See them live before it costs you $50 or more to do so because it’s quite obvious this band is going to take over the world, soon.


Beach Road Hotel, Bondi – 1st June
Come Together Festival, Luna Park – 7th June
For UK tour dates, check out their MySpace.





And an honourable mention goes to The Wahas who were one of the support acts last night (along with Under Lights, who we unfortunately missed, and Kirin J. Callinan who was fabulous as always) whose live shows get more impressive each time we see them and get the award for most photogenic band. Oh and the new song “Wahas Theme” is the best thing we’ve heard in a long time! :)


See The Wahas play:
Come Together Festival, Luna Park – 8th June
Sonarbar, Luna Park (with Amy Meredith) – 21st June
Supporting Grinspoon in Wollongong and at The Metro – 27th & 28th June


Photos by ANNIE LY

TEETH LOVES STUFF issue two

Issue two of TEETH LOVES STUFF zine can be read here.

It features interviews with Only the Sea Slugs & The Vignettes, creative writing by Jasmina Berber & Ivana Rnjak, photography by Sagan Culph & ANNIE LY, drawings by The Fetus, Zigwamp & Leesy and much, much more.

MCA Zine Fair Wrap-Up

Photos by The Fetus.

Thanks to everyone who came to the TEETH table at the Museum of Contemporary Art zine fair last Sunday. We had an awesome time and spread the word of TEETH to a few more people. :)

The next zine fair we’ll be attending is at Kinokuniya on the 28th of June. Come down and say hi if you get the chance.

Only the Sea Slugs

TEETH talked to Sasha from Only the Sea Slugs, who are currently recording their debut EP, to find out a little more about this Sydney band that is yet to get the sort of exposure their wonderful sound and beautiful lyrics deserve.

Tell us – who are you and where are you from?

We are SASHA, ZORAN, DEAN, LUKE & SCOTT. Five humans. Sydneysiders stretching from the deep south to the far north.

When and how did Only the Sea Slugs become a band?

Three years ago, Zoran & I started writing music together, just keyboards and guitars. We played really shitty venues in our local areas, but they felt so good. Last year, we met Dean & Luke and started the band. Now, Scotty just rolled up, clean. Its just seems to keep growing, but we definitely don't want an orchestra.

You have quite possibly the most interesting band name ever. What does it mean and how did it come about?

This story is strange and funny. We came up with SEA SLUGS amongst 30 other ‘tough’ names, so we thought, yeah, its unassuming...and we love the ocean, but the "ONLY THE" part was soon after an addition, when one night we were eating pizza and someone offered me the last slice and I took it, and Zoran yelled out in hysterics..."ONLY THE FAT CUNTS EAT THE LAST SLICE!" So that’s....

What is your song writing influenced by/what inspires you?

It’s impossible to sum it up, but the major ingredient is emotion. Listening to other bands is really an influence for me particularly. I believe every band copied off other bands either consciously or sub-consciously...they just don’t admit it. LOVE INFLUENCES ALL MUSIC. It’s the LOVE for anything....

What can we expect from the EP? Will it be very different to what we’ve heard so far?

We are planning for it to set another level of intensity. The songs are all very powerful in their own element, we have hardly written any slim, watered-down tracks, they are all quite layered and melodic, but beefy.

You’ve played at some pretty awesome venues around Sydney. (Including the Oxford Art Factory, the Annandale Hotel and Spectrum.) Where would you really love to play in the future? And with which bands?

We are very happy with the exposure and opportunity we have been granted in the last year. As for the near future, we would love to play all respected underground venues around Australia, New York, London...We think our sound would fit in those settings well. And bands??? TV on the Radio! And local bands we love from Sydney, there is a swell little underground scene going on.

How would you describe your sound?

Melodic. Layered. Driving. Interesting. Oceanic.

Do you believe in the tooth fairy?

That’s how we made enough cash (as kids) to buy guitars!

Add Only the Sea Slugs on MySpace!

Check out Only the Sea Slugs in the new issue of TEETH LOVES STUFF: page 1 & page 2.

(Photos by ANNIE LY)

MCA Zine Fair

Look how hard Ivana Stab is working to put everything together in time for the MCA zine fair. ANNIE LY was so busy she couldn't even feature in the photo! Zomg! To show your appreciation for all their hard work, make sure you come down to the MCA this Sunday and say hi (and maybe pick up a zine or two).

THE NEW ISSUE OF TEETH LOVES STUFF WILL BE AVAILABLE THIS SUNDAY. For only $2 you can get 24 pages of awesomeness. There will also be TEETH badges for $1. Plus, free teeth! And lots and lots and lots of other good stuff. IT'LL BE SELLING LIKE HOTCAKES!

See you at the MCA!

TEETH Poetry

Dirty couches,
Cigarette holed pouches
And then the little person crouches,
Behind a wall because he wasn’t very tall,
He hangs for dear life before he falls,
And crawls
And rawls
And mauls,
At her stockings.

Happy Birthday, ANNIE LY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNIE LY!

It's now officially ANNIE's 19th birthday. Ivana Stab will accept presents on her behalf...

Love and toothpaste and mind-rape.

The Wahas

TEETH interviewed The Wahas about all things that are good. Here’s what the interview evolved into…

The Wahas became a band “about two years ago, in a car park”, a story kind of hard to grasp considering they’ve played as a support band for The Horrors on their Australian tour and have played at some of Sydney’s finest venues such as the Oxford Art Factory and the Gaelic Theatre and alongside Australia’s favourite new bands, including Ghostwood and Mercy Arms.

The Wahas hail from Sydney’s North Shore and have an average age of seventeen. They list everyone from The Birthday Party to The Pop Group to Gallows (to Kochie) as influences. And they make very good music.

The Wahas are...

Cass (tambourine, vocals) / Jack (bass, vocals) / Rupert (guitars, vocals)

Tom (guitars) / Xavier (drums)

Their debut EP ‘We Love The Wahas’ was released a little while ago and features some very good cover art. It is a very impressive EP, with lyrics by Rupert standing out, on ‘Collide’ especially. ‘Dodge City Showdown’ lasts almost seven minutes, with haunting vocals, deep drums in the background and a sound reminiscent of The Velvet Underground (think ‘Heroin’). The video clip of the single ‘New Suit’ featured on Rage!

However, the sound of The Wahas nowadays is very different to what is heard on the EP. When asked why they don’t play many songs off the EP anymore, they say it’s a mixture of being sick of playing them and trying to step away from that sound. The new songs are certainly a leap forward, with a variety of sounds and styles, but all with a distinct Wahas feel. They range from the fun of ‘Chorus Girl’, all tambourines and “la la la la la la” making it impossible to resist dancing, to the eerie Horrors feel of ‘Anne Frankenstein’, to the shrieking vocals by Jack on ‘Mother in Drag’. Whether a new release is in store is a secret, but considering the amount of amazing new material they’ve put together, it’s hard to imagine a new EP, or perhaps even an album, is too far away.

The Wahas say their best gig so far has been playing with The Horrors and the worst a gig at a skate park which didn’t go down well with the skaters (who pulled the plug on their instruments a few times). The ingredients for a good Wahas gig are “Red Bull, cigarettes, instruments, a crowd and a venue”. Something must have been missing at the skate park…

The dark side of The Wahas features people living in fridges, having strange sexual fetishes and Vegemite beards and can be seen on YouTube – check out “What Would You Do?”.

And now for the remainder of the questions which could not be cleverly incorporated into this article…

TEETH: What would you do if TEETH lived in your fridge?
The Wahas: Sue them for copyright infringement.
(Refer to “What Would You Do?” episode 6)

TEETH: Which members of The Horrors are your favourite?
The Wahas: The ones with the tight jeans.

TEETH: How do you handle being in school and having a music career at the same time?
The Wahas: Well.

TEETH: The Beatles or Elvis?
The Wahas: The Kinks.

TEETH: Do you believe in the tooth fairy?
The Wahas: We regret not keeping our teeth.

TEETH: What are your favourite Sydney bands?
The Wahas: The FolloW, Ghostwood, Bridezilla, Snout Cassette, The Stukas, Wifepunch.

TEETH: Which is superior – toothpaste or hairspray?
The Wahas: Hairpaste.

TEETH: Which bands would you love to play with in the future?
The Wahas: James Chance and The Contortions on Sunrise.

TEETH: Have you made any plans for life after school that don't include music? Eg. uni, nine to five, joining a cult?
The Wahas: Going on Sunrise.

The very best of luck to The Wahas with the Sunrise gig and with other music stuff too.

A big thank you to The Wahas for their TEETH support, interview answers which made us laugh and putting up with the rain during the photo-shoot, and to their lovely manager Natalie for making the interview and photo-shoot happen.

For more Wahas goodness, visit their MySpace or website.
To see all the photos from the shoot, visit the set by ANNIE LY.

TEETH Poetry

Captain Manwitch
Makes a sandwich
Puts it in a bowl
And smokes it.

I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin & fuck with the stars

Let's get out of Sydney.

Title - lyrics by MGMT (Time to Pretend)
Photos by ANNIE LY.

3pm

A red haired girl reads the Herald. A boy in black smokes a menthol cigarette. A voice from another continent says something irrelevant and someone laughs. Coffee drinkers rush past. Rain falls lightly. These faces, they exist just for a moment.

Photo by ANNIE LY.

Words by Ivana Rnjak.

SwiftLove

SwiftLove is a new night of indie goodness at Candy’s Apartment, organised by Darren. The grand launch featured a fabulous line-up of up-and-coming Australian bands.

Only the Sea Slugs were on early, playing their final gig before taking a break to record an EP. Ballet Imperial followed, attracting a large crowd which involved a lot of “take it off” chants for the drummer. TEETH liked the sound and bought their EP which is rather very good, especially the haunting track ‘Imperia’. Up next was Tennis with a sound reminiscent of The Strokes, with additional vocals by the lead guitarist adding a nice, contrasting touch. And to wrap the night up, one of the most promising new Sydney bands, Lions at Your Door, played an up-beat set. Their line-up features the bassist from now-defunct band The Mares, and their energy is infectious.

It must also be mentioned that the music played in between bands featured some very good Australian artists including Dardanelles, The Wahas and teenagersintokyo. Overall, a fun night!

For party photos, visit our Flickr.
For band photos, visit the photoset by ANNIE LY.

TEETH, BITCH

Made by The Fetus

We are TEETH. We will take over the world.

TEETH is a project about all things that are awesome. It has no boundaries. We are revolutionary! Radical! Unconventional! Or perhaps we are just not very good at sticking to one thing. Whichever it is, this is TEETH and it is whatever we want it to be. TEETH is not about money making, it is about sharing ideas and music and love and drugs and words and art.

TEETH is based in Sydney. It is a collaboration between ANNIE LY and Ivana Stab; Steph is our Melbourne correspondent. All TEETH contributors are the awesomest kids in the world and we love them more than toothpaste. If you would like to contribute, email teethmag@gmail.com with your ideas.

Add us on MySpace!

Love and toothpaste,

TEETH