Do the Teenagers Need their Mouths Washed out?
dirty parisian lads and a lack of soap
On first listen, it can be hard to take the Teenagers seriously. The France-via-London three-piece dance band dress and look like American Apparel models, have charming French accents, and write songs about Scarlett Johansson and American cheerleaders. Most of the lyrics are spoken over synthesizers, and the filthy lyrics sound less Daft Punk and more Penthouse. Worst of all, they started as a joke on MySpace.
So, why listen to the Teenagers?
“We don’t think of the Teenagers as the one-hit-wonder, the take-the-money-and-run, so I hope people don’t think that!” says Michael Szpiner, the Teenagers’ bassist. He, along with vocalist Quentin Delafon and guitarist/synth player Dorian Dumont, started the band over Christmas of 2005 with “a MySpace page and a song.” That first song became “Fuck Nicole,” featured on their newly released LP, which had a typically auspicious start. “Quentin had a request from a girl named Nicole, and we were like, ‘fuck you, Nicole,’ and that’s it,” Szpiner says. The song is a clear template for other Teenagers songs—it combines witty, often vulgar lyrics spoken by Dumont with an insistent guitar line and a darkly humorous shout-along chorus. While this does not exactly seem a recipe for success, their unique music and lyrics were quickly picked up not only by fans, but by a major label.
The band left their native Paris and relocated to London, where they thought they would better be able to attempt a serious music career. “London’s more exciting to us,” Szpiner says. While there, they worked on their first record, Reality Check, which was released last month on Beggars XL. In addition to “Fuck Nicole,” the album includes other similarly anthemic dance-rock tracks like “Love No,” a song that takes to task a nagging girlfriend, and “Feeling Better,” their self-referential track that reminds fans to listen to them when they’re down (and buy their T-shirts).
The Teenagers are surprisingly earnest when it comes to their fans, even when they’re not telling them to write “I love the Teenagers” on their bodies, as they do in “Feeling Better.” “We want people to enjoy themselves, that’s the main goal,” Szpiner says.
This policy extends to their music videos. The shoot for “Love No” was done in Greenpoint during their last stay in New York. The casting call, posted on local blogs, asked for 18-24-year-olds who wouldn’t mind spending the day “eating ice cream, roller skating, and making out on camera with good looking strangers.” The video is similar to their album cover, which also features two good-looking people making out. Currently, they’re looking for fans to record themselves singing “Feeling Better” for their new music video. “It’s just more fun to do—it’s just more cool” to have fans in their videos, Szpiner says. And it’s not like they’re short of fans—their MySpace page now has more than 75,000 friends who leave incredibly enthusiastic comments and express excitement over their Coachella dates.
It’s impossible to talk about the Teenagers without addressing their first big track, “Homecoming.” When the duet-tribute to transatlantic romance (okay, one night stands) first appeared on blogs about a year ago, the dark, synth-heavy music was one of the less important aspects of bloggers’ posts. The matter-of-fact chorus, “I fucked my American cunt,” was seemingly tailor-made to distract, well, everyone. “At the beginning, we didn’t know that it was that rude, we thought it was just a bad word. We didn’t know that a lot of people would be so shocked-slash-excited about it,” Szpiner says. The chorus also proved too risqué for the FCC, who changed it for the airwaves to “I kissed my American crush,” not only skewing the meaning, but erasing the naughtiness that makes the Teenagers so different. The song’s racy lyrics and synthesizers successfully garnered additional attention for the dance-rock band, attention that would later be transferred to their other music and their live performances.
The Teenagers are not only hilarious lyricists and performers on their albums—live, they are also serious musicians who perform capably, demonstrating their talent. On their last New York tour in January, Delafon danced around endearingly and awkwardly, telling the audience, “I saved a lot of moves for New York. I hope you noticed.” Two girls dressed in their hipster best were called up onstage to provide the female vocals for “Homecoming,” but proved more interested in dancing with Delafon. The band, though, is incredibly tight, and the show, as well as the music, was fun and rowdy. The Teenagers are excited about their return to New York, with dates at both the Music Hall of Williamsburg and Bowery Ballroom. “New York was really, really cool— we can’t wait to go back,” Szpiner says.
As for what is next for the Teenagers, they’re not sure themselves. Though they have recently exploded due to the currently vital combination of MySpace, tenacity, and a novel concept, the vaguely gimmicky dance-pop theme could run out—soon. After a computer with their new demos on it was stolen, they’re sure that their new music is “going to be different.” Hopefully not too different, however. How exactly they intend to top songs about pneumatic actresses and making out to Dirty Dancing remains to be seen.\\\