“I feel like a lot of the time we have people messaging us like, ‘Oh, my girlfriend’s really into girl bands’,” says Jaida Stephenson, the bassist for Canberra quartet Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers.
She’s chatting to Junkee about lingering gender stereotypes, something Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers tend to poke fun at. “Since when is ‘girl bands’ a genre? It’s not like you describe a group of all males a ‘man band.’”
It’s days before the release of the band’s debut album, I Love You, and Jaida’s sick of being pigeonholed. “We just want to be described as a rock band, not a girl rock band,” she says. It’s not because they don’t want to promote women or non-males in music, Jaida clarifies. “It just shouldn’t make any difference what our gender is when it comes to our music.”
The band have challenged gender expectations since their inception — their 2022 debut EP was called Pretty Good For A Girl Band. “It is so important to have representation of non-males in the music industry,” Jaida says. Of course, this should be the norm, not the exception, but despite significant strides in recent years, everyday sexism (like highly unnecessary gender descriptors) only perpetuates the imbalance.
I Love You’s leading single, ‘Lights Out’, is a powerful rebuttal of gender stereotypes. The song’s fierce instrumentation hits like lightning, and the band’s lead singer Anna Ryan’s bold lyrics ring in your ears long after the final chord: “Your eyes are saying you want more/But I’m just here for that one thing/I hear you shouting in my ear/But I can only taste you”.
“It was one of the first songs we all wrote together, which wasn’t a sappy song to do with love, breakups or coming of age,” Jaida says. “It was more just like a fuck yeah, gonna smooch some guy at a club, gonna get it!”
On the surface, their catchy hooks seem straightforward, but I Love You reveals cathartic depth as it unfurls. Powered by the instrumental synergy of Jaida, guitarist Scarlett McKahey, and drummer Neve van Boxsel, the alt-rock quartet take turns at the songwriting helm, telling their most intimate tales on tracks like ‘Your House My House’, ‘Backseat Driver’ and ‘Never Saw It Coming’. Forget “girl band” clichés; Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are proving that gender doesn’t define their talent.
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers: More Than Just A ‘Girl Band’
From quaint bedrooms to writing sessions on Australia’s East Coast, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers pledged to make I Love You a fully collaborative process. “We booked out a few Airbnbs in New South Wales and Victoria and all brought our ideas together,” Jaida says. Guided by Holy Holy member Oscar Dawson’s deft production, I Love You “feels a lot more personal”, setting it apart from their previous releases.
“The album has been in the works for over a year, so I think we’ve been able to refine it a little more,” says Jaida. They’ve poured time and soul into their music, so it’s amusing — and sometimes frustrating — to still confront certain stereotypes. “It’s so funny when people talk about us. It’s as if they’re saying, ‘Oh, look at those little girls! They’re trying their best,’” she quips. “But honestly, we’re just doing what everyone else does.”
Over the years, the bond between the members of Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers has only grown stronger. “We’ve been friends since we were five or six years old, but now we’re literally sleeping in the same bed together every night going on tour for months on end,” Jaida says. “We’re like a family. We fight like sisters, but it’s just that relationship where you know we’re always going to be there for each other.”
On ‘Toe Bone’, Scarlett’s delicate vocals glide over jangly guitars, guiding us through the notes of a heartfelt love letter. “There’s a line in ‘Toe Bone’ that’s dedicated each to me, Neve, and Anna,” says Jaida. “I instantly knew what my line was because it was just such a personal experience between me and Scarlett. Every time I listen, I nearly start crying.”
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers: I Love You’s Intimate Tales
On this album, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers get intimate. Take ‘Backseat Driver’, where Anna belts: “Can’t compute without my daily dose of you/Your bruised knuckles and arms/I can’t explain why I think so much”.
“Every song we write comes from us being sad in our room, sitting there with a guitar and blurting out our feelings,” Jaida says. “A lot of the songs on the album were written in high school — we were going through these really heightened emotions.”
“‘Your House My House’ is the most special song to me,” she says. “You take over all my feelings/I don’t want to be misleading but/I think I’ll stay at mine tonight” could easily be a page torn from a well-worn diary. “I sing it and get a little tear to my eye,” she shares. “I don’t get sad, but it’s also not a happy feeling. It’s like this big lot of emotion around it.”
“A lot of these songs are written in our darkest hour — you’re pretty much cutting out a little piece of your brain and giving it to anyone who wants to hear. It’s really scary. [But] A lot of people can relate to the lyrics, which makes it worth putting it out there.”.
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers: “A Full Circle Moment”
It’s clear Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are going places. Already they’ve achieved so much. “The sky’s kind of the limit at the moment,” Jaida says. “When we first started, I couldn’t even play bass. We just thought it would be like a silly little side project,” she says. “I had no idea it was going to go this far. Now I don’t ever want to stop.”
Jaida co-founded the band at just 15, but her love for music began even earlier. “My sister gave me her iPod Nano in Year 8, and I discovered this whole world of indie rock music,” she says. “I remember being 13 and listening to Lana Del Rey lyrics — like, ‘sitting by the pool with my red bikini and my older daddy‘. It felt so relatable.”
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers’ growth isn’t just about their familial ties or formative memories; it’s marked by milestones that few could only dream of. “The Metro Theatre was the first venue I ever went to in Sydney,” Jaida says. “I snuck in underage for the Dune Rats/Skegss show in 2016, and I just remember thinking, ‘Oh my God this is incredible, I love music.’ The Metro felt massive, and now we’re headlining it. It feels like a full circle moment.”
Talking about their upcoming tour, Jaida’s especially keen to play ‘Treat Me Better’. “People are going to go feral for it,” she jests. “It’s got the most heavy Arctic Monkeys-style riff in it. We lock in so well and it hits so hard.”
Over the past eight years, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers have graced stages beyond their wildest dreams. Between relentless touring and intimate recording sessions, the band have also become more open about their queer identity. “Recognising the queerness in the band has been really important, especially for Anna — who goes by they/them — and Scarlett,” says Jaida. And as for being an all non-male band, “it’s not something we want to advertise or anything, because it’s literally just who we are.”
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers’ new album I Love You Is Out Now.
Cassidy Burke is a Brisbane/Meanjin-based music writer. She commits to authentic storytelling and elevating marginalised voices in the Australian music scene.