#scream core

“take my empty heart i know we’ll make more mistakes 🩸

Teen Angels - “Jesus Is on My Side” Scooch Pooch Records Plays: Their Original Sins Song released in 1994. Compilation released in 1996. Screamcore / Punk Rock / Riot Grrrl

The Teen Angels were an all-female punk, screamcore trio from Seattle, who came along during the underground riot grrrl rock explosion. But to understand the Teen Angels, one also must be familiar with Dickless, a band that was on Seattle’s Sub Pop, the label that defined alternative rock in the early 90s and made grunge a nationwide phenomenon. 

Dickless debuted in 1990 with Kelly Canary, Jana McCall, Kerry Green, and Lisa Buckner, who was soon replaced by Lisa Smith. The band only released six songs in their entire existence, averaging around 90 seconds each. They ended up with two 7-inch releases on Sub Pop. Kelly Canary, the band’s vocalist, was largely responsible for its original sound, sporting a shrieking, throaty, and terrifying vocal style. After a few years and opening for Tad and Nirvana, Canary left to form Teen Angels and Smith soon joined her.

Teen Angels debuted on Scooch Pooch, an LA and then later Seattle label that pushed a sort of unique, indie-punk, psychobilly sound. Teen Angels weren’t psychobilly, but they definitely had the unique and indie-punk streak. “Jesus Is on My Side” uses noisy, heavy, abrasive chord progressions as a backdrop for Kelly Canary’s vocals that shift between a droning, unintelligible quiet and those terrifying, throaty shrieks.