In Limbo

Teen, a quartet led by ex-Here We Go Magic keyboardist Kristina Lieberson, do some interesting things with drones and repetition that really set them apart from their shoegazer-loving Brooklynite contemporaries. For example, opening track "Better" is powered by a Velvet Underground-style static piano clank, and Lieberson cites pummeling synth-rockabilly duo Suicide as a key influence, most clearly heard on the aggressive first single "Electric." Songs warp from post-punk grinds into unexpectedly tranquil hums and whirrs, and increasingly ubiquitous producer Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember dusts the entire record with his signature tactile fuzz. But at 56 minutes, In Limbo is long enough that "hypnotic" occasionally slides downwards into "unfocused." Maybe reconfiguring these 11 tracks into two releases -- perhaps a relatively concise 35-minute album focusing on more immediately accessible tunes like "Sleep Is Noise" and the Nancy Sinatra-fronts-My Bloody Valentine melodrama of "Roses and Wine," followed by a 20-minute EP of spikier, noisier material like "Why Why Why" and "Fire" -- would put Teen's expansive aesthetic into sharper relief.