Teenage Jesus and The Jerks: A retrospective

Formed in 1976 by vocalist and poet Lydia Lunch and saxophonist James Chance, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks were integral in pushing punk beyond faster pub rock and Malcolm McLaran financed boy bands into something artsier. Informed by Lydia's wild, noise slide guitar and ten minute sets made of thirty second songs. The band dissolved in 1979, leaving behind only a dozen tracks.

This single is certainly a statement of intent. Orphans begins with a jittering beat and Lydia's wailing guitar and screaming vocals. It is creepy, uncomfortable, amateurish and challenging, a great introduction to their discography. They b-side, entitled "Less of Me," is childish and ferocious, a fuck you with barely competent musicianship. If their aim was to destroy '77 punk, this is their rallying cry.

One of their most abstract songs, baby doll is an atonal dirge interspersed with a quick drum rhythm and guitar chugs that reminds me of something from a Napalm Death demo.  

3. 

This EP collects their two 7 inches and includes four new tracks. The first of the new tracks, Freud in Flop, is a  short breath of angry, instrumental  post punk. Clocking in at forty-two seconds, the song is short, but despite its brevity it has the power to conjure images of dilapidated city streets and drug abuse. The second new track, racemixing, is an instrumental noise jam. It sounds like someone hitting a cardboard box over guitar feedback and squalling saxophone. It's ahead of its time, comparable to NON or Merzbow's "Normal Music." "Burning Rubber" is the next new track and, with its jittery time signature and droney bass/guitar sound, reminds me of cool jazz meets The Stooges.  Red Alert caps off the album, a twenty second amphetamine noise freakout. 

Acting as the bands swansong, Pre-Teenage Jesus and the Jerks is a three song EP containing two new songs. At nearly four minutes, "The Closet," is one of the bands longest songs. It is a dirgey, sad number. It's lyrics deal with the oppression and sexuality and the entrapment of middle class values. Lunch's vocals are buried under her guitar, giving the song a claustrophobic vibe. It devolves into a Swans-esque industrial freakout.  Probably my favorite track the band put out. "My Eyes" is the jazziest track in their discography, with James Chance's prominent, well played saxophone. If not for Lydia's vocals, this track could easily fit on a late Coltrane album.

 This record is a compilation of New York's short-lived post punk scene. In my opinion, it's totally seminal.

 Containing material by The Contortions, Mars, D.N.A, and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and produced by Brian Eno, it is forty minute of freakout. Teenage Jesus has four tracks on the record, with "I woke up Dreaming" being the only new one.  It is perhaps their most famous song, and probably the only one with a chorus. The no-wave scene was an awkward gab between classic New York punk and the post punk that would take hold of Europe in the late 70's/early 80's. No wave produced some excellent artists and musicians like Lydia  Lunch, Robert Crutchfield, and the famous Sonic Youth. It deserves much more respect then it is given.