A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Porterhouse Records-pressed, 45th Anniversary reissue of the Teen City EP by The Modernettes. Isn’t it funny how, in punk rock, being known for only a couple of songs can still make a band superstars? It’s funny, but it’s true – really, Vancouver’s Modernettes have a catalogue which includes just one full-length album (1981’s Gone… But Not Forgiven) and two EPs (1980’s Teen City and 1982’s View From The Bottom), but the band is still well-known and has made several walk-on appearances in movies as a road-hardened punk band who’s fame is well-deserved – among other appearances, Modernettes appeared raising funds for Bucky Haight in Hard Core Logo. The song that the band is seen playing in Hard Core Logo is “Suicide Club” – arguably the band’s biggest hit and the second song on the Teen City EP; it might not sound like a significant event but, as soon as I heard it here, I was sold on reviewing this new reissue.
But we should begin at the beginning. On first sight, more seasoned (read: older) listeners will recognize the cover of Teen City as looking a lot like other covers from the era which came to be defined by New Wave (cubes or squares predominantly appear in the background – often containing or housing band members – and the images of those band members are presented monochromatically; not unlike the schemes that appeared on Talking Heads album covers as well as the covers of albums by Police, Elvis Costello, Devo and David Bowie – to a smaller degree, but the music doesn’t fit so easily into a box like that.As soon as needle catches groove and “Barbara” opens the A-side of Teen City, a very punky bass line rolls along in a similar manner to the one in “God Save The Queen,” but both the vocals and backup vocals betray a far slicker sound; while going so far as to call it straight-out pop might be a bit of a reach, the romanticism of lines which discuss, “spending our lives together” are at least closer to The Replacements or later Ramones songs than anything else. As the cut continues, desires to “skip class with Barbra” and some vocal stutters which feel reminiscent of early Elvis Costello (and also Buddy Holly) will leave listeners wondering what they’re hearing as the cut runs out after one minute and fifty-seven seconds but, then, the uninitiated will have their faces melted and minds blown by “Suicide Club.” There, right away, a snide-sounding guitar and thick bass open the song with an acerbic swagger that rivals the New York Dolls at first, and cranks up the fire with a guitar overdub which makes for a perfect pay-off as the instruments part in the mix and give the words, “Everybody falls in love at the suicide club” ample room to breathe. It’s the kind of moment which freezes time for listeners, and just holds them hypnotized – and when they’re finally able to shake free of it, they’ll coast with the band through “Celebrity Crackup,” which would be incendiary anywhere else but, following “Suicide Club,” only plays like a very able continuation. Here, the song just feels like a good, post-coital holdover which helps let listeners cool down before the needle lifts and the side needs changing.
As outlined above, the A-side of the Teen City EP holds an unreasonable amount of influence – but listeners will find that the B-side, while not as instantly memorable as its counterpart, deserves notice as well. There, on “Confidential,” guitars which sound comparable to Husker Du frame lines like, “Everybody knows the answers to our problems, no one helps us solve them/ They all know the answers to our questions, but they can’t resolve them” and effortlessly present the senses of confusion and ennui that would eventually characterize both grunge and alt-rock. With the benefit of hindsight, the song is brilliant and predates pretty much everything that would be a million-seller about twenty years following this release but, here, it rings as just a good cut that needs more definition. The same claim could be made as frustration at parental problems manifest in “Little Girls” as well as the perfectly undefined concerns of “what little girls are for” (which feels worrisome, in a post-”Me Too” world) as well as the title track that closes the EP and, for its part, sums up the boredom and frustration of living in a small town in a way which, again, feels familiar in 2026, but would likely have felt really fresh when the EP was first released.
…And, standing back from it, the quandary of what it is stacked with what it represents remains the greatest problem with this reissued pressing of the Teen City EP; it’s great and feels like it inspired (or should have inspired) a lot of the bands and music which followed it, but the verdict on what the EP actually achieved and/or who it actually inspired is still very much out. Repeated listens by those who find this reissue will leave them knowing that the music is great and that it holds a lot of potential to inspire others, the question is only how far that signal might carry from there. That question has been open for decades and, then as now, we can only hope. [Bill Adams]
Artist:
https://www.facebook.com/modernettes
https://citizenfreak.com/artists/99758-modernettes
Further Reading:
Vinyl Vlog 615 – The Modernettes – View From The Bottom 12” EP
Album:
The Porterhouse Records reissue of the Teen City EP is out now. Buy it here, directly from Porterhouse Records.
