Teenanger: Punks Say 'Frights' Record Inspired by 'F--- the World!' Feelings

Teenanger's latest album, 'Frights,' is unabashedly more punk than its predecessors but the band themselves still feel like strangers to the local Toronto punk scene.

"There's definitely a punk scene here but we don't necessarily play with a lot of those bands," lead singer and lyricist Swimmings tells Spinner. "We usually play with weird bands."

These "weirder bands" range from country outfit One Hundred Dollars to more experimental groups like Young Mother and Anagram. And Swimmings says though these acts have a different aesthetic they've certainly been inspiring.

"We definitely inadvertently influence each other," he says.

'Frights' was cut and produced by long-time friend Howie Beck. Having produced for a more folk-geared roster of artists, including Feist, Jason Collett and Hayden, Beck was somewhat out of his depth with Teenager. But Swimmings says the studio wiz welcomed the challenge.

"We've done some demos with him before and it worked out really well, so we were like, 'Oh, let's just go back to Howie. He's got a lot of good insight as a producer.'

"It's a really chill environment. We get to go to his house to record so it's not a big stretch for us to get there, whereas with our previous recordings we've had to go out of town or out of our way."

Watch Teenanger's 'Frights' Video
Swimmings admits that things got off to a rocky start while recording 'Frights' but after he took a trip to Ireland with his girlfriend, sans band, to recharge his creativity, "it all came together pretty well."

"I guess this one's a bit more cleaned up and a bit more polished," explains Swimmings. "The songs are a lot darker and more straight-forward and less jangly.

"It reflects more on last winter because that was when it was predominantly written and lyrically it was really dark because I was going through some hard times. I was between jobs and I was like, 'Man, I hate my life right now, f--- the world!'"

Admittedly in a better mood nowadays, Swimmings reveals that the band is already working on a new set of songs and will hopefully put out an EP later this year. When asked if this steady stream of material was natural to the band, he says it's just how the band rolls and that they don't plan on holding back. "We're just going for it, man."

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