Rock and Roll has Lost it's Teeth

The Teeth are still a bit of a mystery to me. I still don't know much about them. I only discovered them about a year ago via Dr. Dog and their Park the Van label. I caught the video for "So Long", and I thought it was perfect. I also watched the "Yellow" video, and i couldn't get how something so simple could be so good. And I really only delved into their material three months ago, at the behest of my boyfriend. After merely sampling their latest release, last year's "You're My Lover Now" online, I was prompted to immediately purchase it. Yes, I said PURCHASE it. I bought the MP3 version and loaded it onto a disk, along with the session they recorded at the Daytrotter studio, and that became my new soundtrack. Anyone who got into my car heard some Teeth. If I talked about music, I talked about the Teeth. And thusly, I fell in love with my new favorite band.

So, what I know of this band is information that I've gathered from many different sources and pieced together into a hazy picture. That picture became crystal clear when I finally witnessed their live performance at this year's SXSW. And so soon after, it was abruptly cracked by a rumor of a breakup, and now, with the confirmation of that rumor, shattered.

I consider myself so lucky to have watched them live, even if only once. On the Thursday of this past South By Southwest, I was able to catch a backyard show featuring the Teeth, Sunset, and The Physics of Meaning at Big Orange Transducers, the temporary Daytrotter studio in Austin. What a show! The Teeth's live act was everything I hoped it would be. Those boys threw their entire being into that performance. It was all movement and sweat and energy. I felt like everything else had stopped. It was just me and the music. Magical. I thought about that line from The Henry Clay People's "Rock and Roll Has Lost Its Teeth", and I thought, "Thank all that is holy for this band. This is punk rock. This is Rock and Roll," I thought. "This is it."

They were punk rock.

On Thursday, April 3rd, Peter MoDavis of The Teeth wrote a letter to us all regarding the demise of the band, a letter that I read with some difficulty. Like many others, I too had heard the rumors of a break up right after I got back from Austin, but I couldn't believe it. So, I waited. And now, it is the end.

I decided to tell the Teeth how I really felt, with a MySpace comment on their page:

I don't think I've ever cried over a band before, but today, realizing how much you've meant to me, I cried. I heard a rumor 2 weeks ago, but I didn't believe it. I didn't want to believe that something this beautiful could no longer be experienced.

The show that you played with [The Physics of Meaning and Sunset] at Big Orange in Austin was the highlight of my time in Texas, and The Christmas City EP has been in my CD player incessantly since I received it as a Valentine's Day gift. And I never tire of watching the "So Long" video. It's amazing. And so are the Daytrotter Sessions.

I have told so many people about The Teeth. This music is exciting, and it makes me happy to be alive. And I wanted to share that with everyone.

Thank you all, I will miss you, we will miss you.

~sqg rachel

Bite into these:

My favorite Teeth video for "So Long":



You can also listen to the Teeth's Daytrotter session here.