PROTEENS

PRO TEENS | Photo by Ben Backhaus

Oh spirit! Herald of youth, harbinger of waste. Excluding the cute parallels between a protein-based diet, youth culture as a career, and the push for juvenile delights they might suggest, Phoenix, Arizona’s PRO TEENS are a filtration system that serves an ice-cold glass of refreshing water on a warm day. This water, fortified by rhythm and blues, surf, and bubble-gum pop gives anything currently on the market a run for its money—and what a sublime run it is.

While there is a playfulness at work here, the band, comprised of Andy Phipps (guitar/vox), Zack Parker (bass), Matthew Tanner (drums), and Eamon Ford (guitar/keys), is remarkably learned. The parts that make the whole are concentrated essences giving their recordings an almost punky/New Wave attitude but with a production feel that’s more closely related to a Beach Boys session.

Darlings of the Phoenix scene; they do not take themselves too seriously and regarding the band’s name, poke fun at and engage other entities like a religious group and an organization that promotes surgical procedures for overweight juvies that share it. But this is evinced by front-man Phipps in a recent interview with Noisey in which he declares, “Who do I want to become? Who would I hate to become?” regarding the process behind their latest recording, Accidentally.

Released July 2016, the album is a dreamy ride through self-questioning; starting with “Goodnight Moon’d” and building upon tracks, until reaching some form of ethereal answer with the lengthy “Tobacca.” Does it fulfill a closure? Yes and no. Like any journey of self-discovery, an odd one for a sophomore effort, it is more than the band looking into a mirror but more of the band holding the mirror up to the listener. There’s a little bit of your journey in here too.

All you have to do is trust these Pro Teens; they won’t try to convert you; they won’t try to shrink you either.

Pro Teens with DirtBike and Backpage Escort at 9pm on Thursday, October 19 at Voltaire WPB. https://proteens.bandcamp.com. ~ Abel Folgar