In between the ebbs and flows of the lo-fi indie pop, you can sometimes find a sincerity so often lacking amongst the cardigan wearing little princes and princesses that bless us with their twee observations on life and love through song. Of course, this being Scotland, we play a rougher indie pop game from the get-go and it is indeed a rougher game that Teose plays with her “Stuck” EP.
Three songs are all you get here and all of them could well be considered minor league entries if it were not for the quite obvious torment twisted in between the caustic words and ubiquitous jagged guitar that are the defining elements of Teose’s music. As you might imagine, this isn’t the kind of music that comes with a press release so I know little of Teose but it seems reasonable to assume that she is both young and not lacking in the anger department. Consequently, the jagged edges of these songs seem both stylistically appropriate and entirely in the spirit of the colder side of lo-fi indie pop with “In Your Bed”, in particular, crying out for greater attention.
Honesty, it is said, is the best policy and it would seem that Teose has learned that lesson well. That makes these three songs worth a listen especially if you have had enough of anodyne expressions of emotion. And cardigans, for that matter.