Teenage Tom Petties

‘Bad Hire’ is a fuzz pop anthem for anyone who has taken a job they probably shouldn’t have. Delivered in Tom Brown’s typically lethargic vocals, it shares the stories of negligent zoo keepers and hesitant life guards – or is it all just one big metaphor? Either way, like all TTP songs, it does so to a soundtrack of gnarled-up guitars and blown-out build ups.

Brown says: “Bad Hire began life as a small finger-picked acoustic song, but once I had the idea of bringing it to the band it changed the energy completely. The verses have this easy-going lightness to them, before the chorus brings in some real urgency. It’s fun as hell to play.”

Teenage Tom Petties began life as the bedroom jangle-punk project of Tom Brown (of indie-rock duo Rural France). After the release of a S/T album on Safe Suburban Home and Repeating Cloud, a line-up was put together to play the songs live. It sounded good. So good they made it official: a fully-fledged, transatlantic band.

After decamping to Big Nice Studio with producer Bradford Kieger (Horse Jumper of Love, Friendship), TTP have recorded a second album. Ten songs recorded live over just two days, capturing the blown-out, high-octane energy of Brown’s slacker indie punk.

The results are supercharged, super melodic and super short. These are tales of the existential dread you face in your twenties, set to a gnarled-up fuzzy soundtrack of big pop choruses, background shouts and solos that reach for the sky and very almost get there. Like all the best things in life, it’s raw, real and close to collapse.