Tetchy are a rising Brooklyn four-piece who make dreamy, anguished pop punk, and they’ve gradually matured their style over time. The band’s 2019 debut single, “Fascist,” describes being in a relationship with someone who has impossible standards, yet who also thinks, “Huh, maybe that Hitler guy was just misunderstood.” It checks all the pop-punk boxes, with bubblegum melodies, relationship angst, and liberal politics. Vocalist and guitarist Maggie Denning incorporates soft coos and trills that contrast with her increasingly ragged, indignant screaming, while guitarist Jesse French takes angular detours as the song hurtles toward a breakdown that feels like a bad dream falling apart. In 2020, Tetchy included the track on their first EP, Hounds.
On their second EP, 2024’s All in My Head (Trash Casual), Tetchy build on this pop-punk foundation with four imaginative tracks that reference 90s and 00s rock and incorporate audio samples. “Voices” recalls the breezy melodicism of Lemuria but throws in art-rock fretwork. “Hands” opens with a 1988 New Year’s Eve countdown, then segues into a pained confession: Denning sings of never wanting her partner to touch her again, to the extent that she’d be willing to forgo touch altogether. “Married” uses a nu-metal stomp to question why an emotionally immature man is getting married. (In the song’s video, Denning skateboards, throws cookbooks, and pours champagne over her greasy chewing-gum-pink hair, making it clear that she sees marriage as bondage—and that she’s aware she’s not ready for it.) On closing track “Psychosomatic,” a meditation on Denning’s struggles with long COVID, the range of her emotional vocals makes her sound more like Evanescence’s Amy Lee than a typical punk rocker. Tetchy are a high-energy group who can reflect on themselves without taking any of that too seriously. They balance their sad, dark side with humor, humility, and upbeat riffs. For their Chicago debut, they’re opening for local punks Edging at Sleeping Village, and it should be plenty of fun.
Tetchy Edging headline; Tetchy and Muscle open. Wed 8/20, 9 PM, Sleeping Village, 3734 W. Belmont, $19.57, 21+
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