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Australian punk band Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers have just released their first album and are gearing up to support rock legends Foo Fighters on their upcoming Australian tour. But they\u2019re already learning not to care what people think. And that includes each other.<\/p>\n
Their debut album, I Love You<\/i>, is the culmination of eight years together as a band \u2013 and even longer as friends. While they started playing music at 15, while in high school in Canberra, this record is the first time the punk rock band has written songs collaboratively.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at this point where I know everyone so well, and we\u2019ve been together for so long and touring together for so long that I was like, \u2018they\u2019re not gonna think my ideas are shit and even if they do then I don\u2019t really care\u2019,\u201d says Scarlett McKahey, Teen Jesus\u2019 guitarist.<\/p>\n
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Scarlett McKahey, Neve van Boxsel, Anna Ryan and Jaida Stephenson from Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve pissed myself in front of you guys before, it\u2019s not gonna be that embarrassing if you don\u2019t like one of my melodies.\u201d<\/p>\n I Love You is Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers\u2019 debut full-length album.<\/span><\/p>\n Anna Ryan, the band\u2019s singer, adds: \u201c[In the past] if one of us has written a song, there\u2019s been an element of like, \u2018I wonder what they think or if it\u2019s good enough\u2019, but when we were writing together, there was no fear with it.\u201d<\/p>\n The pair laugh often and easily as they talk to this masthead just before the album\u2019s release \u2013 The band consists of McKahey, Ryan as well as drummer Neve van Boxell and bassist Jaida Stephenson.<\/p>\n Inspired by watching School of Rock<\/i> at a sleepover at Ryan\u2019s house, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers decided to start making music in 2015. It didn\u2019t matter that at the time they didn\u2019t all know how to play their instruments.<\/p>\n The intervening years have seen them do much more than simply learn how to play: they released an EP in May 2022, followed by I Love You<\/i> this month, and have performed at major festivals at home and abroad, including Groovin the Moo, Laneway and The Great Escape in Brighton.<\/p>\n Currently on tour with DMA\u2019s, they\u2019re about to head out again to celebrate the new record, before a support slot for Foo Fighters in Melbourne in December. Then, in January, they\u2019ll head back to Europe and the UK to support The Vaccines.<\/p>\n That people are finally going to be able to listen to their debut feels surreal to McKahey and Ryan. \u201cAnna can\u2019t stop crying,\u201d says McKahey.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s too much. Everything is setting me off,\u201d Ryan adds with a laugh. \u201cEverything\u201d includes reviews, old photos and band montage TikToks made by van Boxsel. \u201cWith cheesy songs over the top,\u201d Ryan explains. \u201cI can\u2019t do them any more. I\u2019m too fragile.\u201d<\/p>\n But the band aren\u2019t worried about what the reviews say, McKahey says. \u201cThis is the first time ever that I truly just do not care at all if no one likes it because we love it.\u201d<\/p>\n The album, produced by Oscar Dawson of Holy Holy, features riot grrrl-inspired garage-pop songs that tackle friendship, dysfunctional romantic relationships and sexuality. It drops as women-led punk rock is seemingly having a moment in Australia, with bands like Amyl and the Sniffers and Cable Ties making waves at home and overseas.<\/p>\n McKahey recalls how important it was to meet women that she looked up to when she was starting out, including Courtney Barnett. Now, young people approach her at shows to say they\u2019ve started a band, too. \u201cThe more that people see non-male artists on big festival line-ups and being played on the radio, the more non-male bands pop up because they realise, \u2018oh, I can actually do it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time as the band aims to encourage more women and non-binary people to enter the industry, they also want to make sure their live shows are safe and welcoming environments.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really proud that we\u2019ve created that at our shows,\u201d says Ryan. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty rare for us to see people being dickheads in the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are known for their high-energy live shows.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Pat Ohara<\/cite><\/p>\n But it\u2019s harder to control the environment at large festivals. McKahey recalls the young women at the front of their Groovin the Moo set, seemingly pleading for help with their eyes as they were crushed by overzealous moshers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it happens, we just get so angry,\u201d McKahey says. \u201cI was screaming at these guys to go f— themselves, while we\u2019re being projected on these big screens, not even playing guitar any more.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan adds it was especially disturbing because it happened during Girl Sports<\/i>, a song about sexist comments and expectations. \u201cI\u2019m literally talking about people like you [those men].\u201d<\/p>\n Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers will create that comfortable live space when they embark on their I Love You <\/i>album tour, but McKahey will join her bandmates only for some shows.<\/p>\n The demands of touring take a toll on any artist, but it\u2019s especially difficult for people living with chronic illness. McKahey has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a condition that can cause fatigue, fainting, chest pain and other symptoms.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always been really hard for me to play and tour but after we got back from the UK, I had the worst crash I\u2019ve ever had and ended up in hospital,\u201d she wrote on Instagram in August. \u201cIt\u2019s clear to me now that trying to tour while having this illness is going to be impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n Lying in hospital in Australia, McKahey says she thought she was going to die.<\/p>\n \u201cSix years of pushing it [by touring] came to a head,\u201d she says. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t so much that I came to the conclusion [to stop touring], it\u2019s more like I just don\u2019t really have a choice \u2026 Obviously, it sucks, but I would rather continue to be alive than play on stage every day.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t feel like I\u2019ve missed out. I\u2019ve toured internationally and played every goddamn festival under the sun and now it\u2019s OK to step back for a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan adds: \u201cAs much as I\u2019m gonna miss her when we\u2019re on tour, I\u2019d rather that she\u2019s alive and thriving.\u201d<\/p>\n McKahey deadpans: \u201cI\u2019d rather just be able to call you guys than you have to visit my grave.\u201d<\/p>\n A step back from touring for McKahey does not spell the end of Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, but a band learning to put themselves first.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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