Brooklyn alternative rock band TEEN are to release their second album entitled The Way And Color out this month on Carpark Records. The band is made up of Kristina “Teeny” Lieberson, former keyboardist for the band Here We Go Magic, her sisters Katherine and Lizzie and Boshra AlSaadi.

Opener “Rose 4 U” begins The Way And Color with a glitchy, electronic intro, a steady bass comes in before jerky vocals build up the tempo in time with the rhythms of the soundscape; “I’ve been looking all over for you” and “look here’s a rose for you” repeat in time. “Not For Long” really sets the timbre of the vocals at the forefront – the voices working in harmony in a lighter, bouncing track.

Tracks like “Sticky” and “Breathe Low & Deep”
are more down tempo tracks, the former is kept together with handclaps and lyrical narrative, parts of which sound to be running backwards, the latter a deep bass line. “Voices”
is an experimental interlude filled with echoing, fluttering and squeaky electronic sounds marking the start of the second half of the album.

“More Than I Ask For”
showcases more buttery, soulful vocals from the Lieberson sisters and some more vocal effects too – an auto-tuned response in parts, it’s an outline of requests relating to relationships; “Gimme more than I ask for”. “Toi Toi Toi” is back to the jerky background sounds; the repetition of the word “toi” matches the energy and pace in the song.

“Reconsider”
is another stripped back song like a lot of The Way And Color the sound isn’t a heavy wall of noise, rather a more considered one with a light hearted tone.

“All The Same” ends the album on a similar note, but vocals come back strongly, “the days, the weeks and the months are all undone, passing through the spring and the grey winter stain, all the same, all the same, all the same”. Indeed, TEEN’s second album shows a more developed sound for the band, one interested in rhythms, experimental noise and soulful vocals.

http://carparkrecords.com/

Reviewed by Heather Welsh.