WE LOVE them, you know; TEKE::TEKE, the Montrealais-Japanese septet who formed initially for a one-off tribute show to Japanese king of the surf guitar Takeshi Terauchi, and who have since delighted us en route to their debut album for Kill Rock Stars with the cinematic panache of “Kala Kala”, the heavy chaos and psych propulsion of “Meikyu” and the psych-garage swirl of “Yoru Ni”, return with their punkiest offering to date, “Barbara”, bubblegum bright and sliding into a delirious psych march, as if Gong were taking the Sgt. Peppers vibe out for a spin in their flying teapot, intensely mushroomy and dreamlike; new wave for yr very own haunted toybox.
The accompanying video was put together by guitarist Serge Nakauchi-Pelletier and singer and visual artist Maya Kuroki.
The initial inspiration for this song is a true story that happened to me,’’ says rhythm guitarist Hidetaka Yoneyama.
“I was randomly mistaken for an old lady by this stranger on the street who came up to me screaming Barbara? Barbara?! It’s you?! Barbara?!
“[Singer] Maya then had the idea of taking the story to another level by turning it into this psychedelic tale of ‘Yokai’ (a ghost or spirit) that escapes a house and goes on doing all sorts of pranks on people, that spirit being Barbara.”
Drummer Ian recalls how they captured so quickly. “I remember it being pretty late at night in the studio, everybody was perhaps feeling a bit edgy from a long day of recording and after having a chat about Brazilian band Os Mutantes.
“Somehow we just thought ‘You know what? How about we all get in that room together and play ‘Barbara’ like there’s no tomorrow? That ended up being the cut that’s on the album.”
And the album, Shirushi? We summate it thus: “It’s proper 1967-68 psychedelic, slightly messy and cracked, baroque, dynamic, melodic, freaky, groovy. It’s like a delicious movie soundtrack to a film you now need to exist. Get filming in your head on vintage film stock. Get buying this record.”
Look out for our review on the morning of May 3rd.
TEKE::TEKE’s Shirushi will be released by Kill Rock Stars digitally, on CD, and on trad black and red vinyl come May 7th; do what you know you need to do and get your pre-order in with the label, here.
Follow TEKE::TEKE on Instagram, Facebook and at their website.
