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TEKE::TEKE Share Fierce Single “Barbara” – Debut Album “Shirushi” due May 7th via Kill Rock Stars

April 17, 2021

TEKE::TEKE
Debut fierce single, “Barbara”

Debut Album Shirushi
Out May 7 via Kill Rock Stars 

Montreal-based seven-piece Japanese psych-rock band TEKE::TEKE have returned today with a frenetic, high energy single & lyric video for “Barbara,” premiered with a Consequence Origins feature who describe it as “a wild ride with a call-and-response chorus and the band’s unparalleled energy in all its surf-psych glory.”

The band also performed as part of Consequence’s Protect Live Music livestream benefit for the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) last weekend. Taken from debut LP Shirushi (out May 7 via Kill Rock Stars), the video for “Barbara” like others was animated by the group’s guitarist Serge Nakauchi-Pelletier and vocalist/visual artist Maya Kuroki.

The music unfolds like a wild parade — every instrument a strange character, the lyrics revealing a twisted take on Zashiki-Warashi, spirit-like beings who like to perform pranks and bring good fortune to people who see them. “The initial inspiration for this song is a true story that happened to me,’’ says rhythm guitarist Hidetaka Yoneyama“I was randomly mistaken for an old lady by this stranger on the street who came up to me screaming Barbara? Barbara?! It’s you?! Barbara?! Maya [TEKE::TEKE’s vocalist] then had the idea of taking the story to another level by turning it into this psychedelic tale of ‘Yokai’ (‘ghost’ or ‘spirit’) that escapes a house and goes on doing all sorts of pranks on people, that spirit being Barbara.”

The single follows the band’s much-hyped previous singles from earlier this year, the ferocious “Meikyu” and otherworldly “Yoru Ni.”

The lyrics alone are as explosive as the immersive instrumentation that soars throughout this vital creation. TEKE::TEKE are here to mesmerize. This dexterous energy simmers immediately from the first note of Barbara, this outfit is destined for greatness. This robust and fierce push adds this sonic intensity to the dynamic composition.  There is such a rebellious nature in the innovative sound that TEKE::TEKE delivers, with their latest single the band focus on this wild approach to their lyrics, their atmosphere just opens to such an expansive landscape filled with a magnitude of powerful hooks, notes, and tones. Another bold, standout and adventurous single is taken from their forthcoming record and what can only be described as one of the best albums of our time.

Each instrumentation builds this consuming chaos and inflicts that charge into the gigantic wall of sound that continues to feed on the compulsive energy. The vocal dominates the dramatic and daring ensemble whilst emitting this respectable punk essence.

TEKE::TEKE deserves cult phenomenon status, an act destined to devour you.

“Barbara” brilliantly captures TEKE::TEKE’s near-mythic live energy as it was recorded in a single take with the whole band in the same room. Drummer Ian Lettre explains, “I remember it being pretty late at night in the studio, everybody was perhaps feeling a bit edgy from a long day of recording and after having a chat about Brazilian band Os Mutantes, somehow we just thought ‘you know what? How about we all get in that room together and play ‘Barbara’ like there’s no tomorrow?! That ended up being the cut that’s on the album, haha…”
 
The band finds a mystic cohesion across all of Shirushi (“sign of big changes to come”), as it was inspired by the Japanese practice of kintsugi — the art of mending broken pottery by fusing the pieces back together with seams of gold, silver, or platinum lacquer. “There’s always something hopeful that comes after destruction,” Nakauchi-Pelletier says. “Next comes rebirth, and we get to learn again.” The album glues classic Japanese balladry, surf rock, psychedelia, and more together into a set of songs that play like soundtracks to a wildly eccentric epic film saga. The band incorporates traditional instruments, influences from ‘60’s/70s Japanese soundtracks, and the sentimental balladry of Japanese enka – yet Shirushi manages to sound as if it comes from some distant future.

After initially forming as a tribute band for Japanese guitar legend Takeshi Terauchi, TEKE::TEKE learned that they had to tear up their surf-tinged covers and build something new. Since then, the Montreal-based seven-piece have expanded their already wide scope into a dazzling journey through classic Japanese balladry and Brazillian psychedelia alike. Fusing everything from traditional Japanese instrumentation to punk guitar, TEKE::TEKE have created their own musical universe – one that’s continuously expanding.

Pre-order Shirushi HERE 

TEKE::TEKE is:
Serge Nakauchi Pelletier (Guitar)
Maya Kuroki (Vocals)
Etienne Lebel (Trombone)
Ian C. Lettre (Drums)
Hidetaka Yoneyama (Guitar)
Yuki Isami (Flute, Synths)
Mishka Stein (Bass)

https://www.teketekeband.com/

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