Analogue recording punks of years gone by like The Clash and The Ramones paved a new era for music in the mid-to-late ’70s. Nowadays, young bands tend to record music in much more modern ways. But who ever said old was bad? Cheap Teeth certainly didn’t and their latest single “Animal Fat” fuses that classic analogue feel with modern-day existentialist themes.
Based in Scotland’s capital Edinburgh, Cheap Teeth dropped their debut EP Give Me More, Show Me Less last year. It was produced by Chris McCrory of Chem 19 studios in Blantyre, and given his passions for the rawness of old-school analogous recording, the four-piece have teamed up with the producer once more for their latest single.
From the offset of “Animal Fat,” it’s clear that Cheap Teeth’s musical influences reside far from the Firth of Forth. Barking guitar rhythms and lead riffs harken to Joe Strummer’s style of guitar playing while the twang of the lead vocals feels scarily similar to the unmistakable bluesy tones of Mick Jagger — not a bad combination.
The lyrical themes expressed throughout last year’s debut EP meshed between nihilistic and tongue-in-cheek observations of society and “Animal Fat” follows a similar path. “Does anybody say hello to a fickle man?” reads the main chorus line of the track and in the context of the song, this seems to question the value of both celebrity culture and technology. Other lines such as “Why don’t you say how you feel / In your Animal Fat?” further hints towards this line of questioning, asking why we avoid sharing our humanistic qualities of feeling at the expense of, what can often be, such toxic cultures.
In true punk style, the song is wrapped up in under three minutes and builds to an eery crescendo where reverberated wolf-like whistles slowly fade out into the distance.
“Animal Fat” marks a bold return to music for Cheap Teeth who are picking things up where they left off last year: in fine style. And with live gigs just around the corner, you may soon be able to witness the band’s trailblazing quest with your very own eyes.