About a week and a half ago, I was listening to Japandroids’ outstanding 2012 album, “Celebration Rock”, arguably my favorite album of the decade thus far. A Google search followed, looking for any clues of new music by the band for 2016. While in the Google wormhole, I stumbled upon a new band called The Tet Holiday, an Oakland based-band that recently released their debut album, “Statues”. After hearing the title track, the first band that came to mind was The Replacements, as lead singer Andrew Ledford reminded me a lot of Paul Westerberg. Admittedly, I gave myself a small pat on the back after going to the band’s website, which describes their sound as “Combining the pop instincts of The Jesus and Mary Chain with the passion and energy of Japandroids and The Replacements”.
While Robin Hilton of NPR’s “ All Songs Considered” is a sucker for hand claps, I’m a sucker for “whoas” in the chorus. The Tet Empire delivers that in spades, with an undeniably catchy pop-punk anthem. The video of the title track is a send up of the Bay Area tech-industry. The video opens with the trio busking while a passerby laments social media presence, while (accidentally?) leaving a $100 bill. They then abandon their music aspirations, parlaying the $100 tip into a brainstorming session where they come up with an idea for an app they describe as “the Uber for Chewing”. A pitch to a venture capitalist results in an over sized check for $4,200, which the band quickly burns through with too many employees, boxed wine, and Starbucks espresso shots in a can. They realize that their true calling is music, and the video ends with the band performing at a small club.
Their video is a microcosm of the band, as their social media presence is still small (their Facebook page has under 500 “likes”). Upcoming tour dates are sparse, with a show in Fresno on 3/25 and one in San Francisco on 4/23. Here’s hoping that they find their way to the East Coast in 2016…
