Thursday, April 21

It's The Big Joyous Celebration, Let's Stir The Honeypot - Teen Suicide Album Review


Teen Suicide are back with more soul destroying lo-fi noise pop in what is rumoured to be their last album. At 26 songs long, I prepared myself for this to be an arduous slog, but I was mistaken as most of the songs are around 2 minutes long and are so interestingly put together that it’s impossible to be bored by this album.

It’s The Big Joyous Celebration, Let’s Stir The Honeypot is painfully raw and feels as though you’re intruding on the band’s darkest secrets and fondest memories. You feel you should stop listening, as it’s evident that hearts are being spilled, but the nature of the album drags you deeper into this concoction of sombre realities and intensity. Sam Ray’s vocals are strained and full of emotion, making the album feel like this is a huge struggle to pull together and that it really does come from deep within the depths of Teen Suicide.
The most prominent themes are those of faith and lost hope, drug use, broken hearts and depression, but, this said, the album is oddly joyous in places. With songs like Alex - the tale of a crack addict’s sister who “when she wants to die, the whole world sits and waits ‘til she doesn’t want to die” - providing some light relief from the continuous drone of dissonant noise in the background and the fervent melancholy of the other tracks.

Overall, it is an intensely messy album which is to be expected from their lo-fi style, but it has moments of fleeting genius that cannot be disregarded. Personally, I like the poor recording quality as it gives the songs more character and mirrors the mental turmoil Ray’s trying to convey. If this is to be it from Teen Suicide, they are certainly going out on a high.

Below are 3 stand out tracks from the album that truly present it's diversity:

Written by Hannah Lee

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