by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Brooklyn’s Tetchy exist in a state of flux, moving forward one step at a time, overcoming obstacles while narrowly avoiding breakdown. The world is unpredictable, but Maggie Denning is making the best of it, adapting as needed. When a shift in the band’s line-up led to an uncertain future, Denning decided to write and record demos using her phone, a simple exercise to keep the creativity flowing, writing songs without an explicit purpose. The demos took on a life of their own, and what once was a songwriting prompt began to take shape as the next Tetchy record, the minimalist and psychedelic Smaller / Better EP. Joined by bandmate Jesse French, the pair brought the recordings to a place where they felt full, as radiant a release as anything Tetchy has put out to date. There’s plenty of warbling lo-fi experimentation to the songs, like an acid trip firmly grounded in childhood memories and processing heartache.
Songs like “Nihilism” and the title track serve as a framework, both musically and lyrically, layering acoustic guitars with the outward squiggle of reverb and echo, as Denning parses over promises made and broken, looking in the rearview as she makes plans for moving forward. There’s an intensity to the songs that juxtaposes the breezy compositions, pinched with fragile emotion and shaky intent, but well aware that things change and the world keeps spinning. For a set of songs primarily recorded via phone, there’s a triumphant clarity. Every yearning vocal melody and every reflection of relationships gone wrong is given a soft yet direct treatment, the instrumentation laid out to complement Denning’s vocals, drifting between a whisper and a shout.
cover photo credit: Sydney Tate Bradford