Tweens – ‘Tweens’ album review: potential for greatness
It’s who you know, not what you know, that’s the old saying. So, as a relatively new band, grabbing the attention of Kim Deal, who liked Tweens so much, she booked them as the support act for The Breeders tour.
With Kim Deal’s seal of approval and her gesture of recommendation, we have Tweens’ self-titled debut album. They are Bridget Battle, Jerri Queen, and Peyton Copes, trashy, raucous troublemakers from Cincinnati, not at all what one expects from their unlikely moniker.
It feels very nostalgic to go through the tracks of Tweens. Think 1990s indie rom-com, the scene when a female protagonist gets rebellious and trashes her bedroom or something. That way, you’ve got a good idea of the feel of this album.
They do angsty, catchy, fun songs well, like ‘Bored in The City’ and their single ‘Be Mean’, and they fully embrace their ’90s punk vibes. It’s a grassroots album on the very light and airy end of the spectrum of punk and trash pop, though. Baby punk, if you will.
They also test the water with some more mellowed songs like the amply named ‘Stoner’, which would most likely send you to sleep. Chilled out is just not their forte. Their homegrown sound makes for perfect party songs, and I can see the potential for greatness from Tweens, even if this is not necessarily it.
They are a young band with heaps of support rallying behind them, and they have plenty of time to work it out and master their craft. I have no doubt that they will do just that.
It’s not a bad entrance for Tweens, and they can tick off famous friends, a great punk riot grrrl vocal from Bridget Battle, and some catchy tracks off their to-do list straight off the bat. They definitely have some of that abounding haphazard excitability, although sometimes unfounded, that comes with some shiny new bands. That means that it’s fun but perhaps not their finely-tuned masterpiece.
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