The Teeth
You’re My Lover Now (Park the Van)
By Erin Wolf
Published: July 5th, 2007 | 10:02pm
Imagine being in a car with your pals who share the same musical tastes as you, but they each want to listen to a different type of music: One wants to groove on some old school power-pop; one wants to rock to some gritty garage; and one wants to glam out to some ‘70s folk ballad that has vocals that are way too high for you to sing along to. But you like it all anyway. In fact, everyone’s having an awesome time flipping from station to station. That’s what listening to Philadelphia’s the Teeth is like. Veering from vaudevillian to power-pop to garage rock to dance rock to folk ballad as if controlled by several hands on the radio dial, the Teeth manage to keep it all together and even sound downright amazing.
Their first full-length You’re My Lover Now is a mish-mosh of genres, but is a very well put-together outfit. Comprised of twin brothers Aaron and Peter Modavis (rhythm guitar and bass) along with Brian Ashby (lead guitar) and Jonas Osterle (drums), the Teeth can handle all of the genres they so aptly spit out. The twins’ excellent vocal harmonizing capabilities is essentially what powers their songs along, but with the addition of truly excellently manipulated instruments combining to create songs that are partially Elvis Costello, part the Who, part the Kinks, part Paul McCartney and Wings, and more, the end result is more than excellent.
Listening to the Teeth, the borrowing of all of these past talents is not offensive in the least. In fact, the Teeth create such an arresting sound from these borrowings that it’s impossible not to admit You’re My Lover Now could be one of the most fantastic albums you’ve heard in a really long time. The brightly pessimistic lyrics are just the icing on the proverbial cake. Songs about post-holiday depression, eating disorders, people that are self-absorbed, and general apathy play nicely against the upbeat croonings and frenetic energy and create a nice feeling of balance. These choppers have bitten down strongly on something solid. Let’s hope they don’t let go of this sound anytime soon.
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