Teenage Jesus & the Jerks
Encyclopedia
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks were an influential New York
post-punk
group who formed part of the city's No Wave
movement. Founded by one-time CBGB
's waitress Lydia Lunch
and saxophonist James Chance
, the group was active from 1976 to 1979, releasing only a handful of singles.
Chance
eventually left to form The Contortions
and pursue his own equally abrasive musical direction. Both groups were featured on the seminal No New York
LP, a showcase of the early No Wave
scene compiled and produced by Brian Eno
.
Infamous for playing ten-minute sets filled with thirty-second songs, they sought to take music beyond what Lunch saw as the traditionalism of punk rock
. The group left behind little more than a dozen complete recorded songs with most of the surviving titles collected on the 18-minute career retrospective CD entitled Everything. However other studio versions of several songs exist alongside a few live recordings.
Lunch and Chance both went on to become cult figures of the New York underground music scene and the group has been cited as a significant influence on subsequent post-punk groups such as Sonic Youth
, and The istics.
The band reunited in 2008 for a series of performances, with Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore
. The band continued to perform without Moore throughout 2009, including dates in Canada.
"Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, and their comrade bands, Mars
, Contortions
, and DNA
, defined radicalism not as a return to roots but as deracination. Curiously, the No Wave
groups staged their revolt against rock
tradition by using the standard rock format of guitars, bass, and drums. It was as if they felt the easy electronic route to making post-rock
noise was too easy. Instead, they used rock’s tools against itself. Which is why No Wave music irresistibly invites metaphors of dismemberment, desecration, ‘defiling rock’s corpse."
Lydia Lunch has voiced her disdain for contemporary rock, claiming in Rip It Up: “I hated almost the entirety of punk rock, I don’t think that No Wave had anything to do with it.”
“Who wanted chords
, all these progressions
that had been used to death in rock? [To play slide guitar
] I’d use a knife, a beer bottle… Glass gave the best sound. To this day I still don’t know a single chord on the guitar.”
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
group who formed part of the city's No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
movement. Founded by one-time CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
's waitress Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
and saxophonist James Chance
James Chance
James Chance, also known as James White , is an American saxophonist, songwriter and singer....
, the group was active from 1976 to 1979, releasing only a handful of singles.
Chance
James Chance
James Chance, also known as James White , is an American saxophonist, songwriter and singer....
eventually left to form The Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions, led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, were one of the original punk jazz groups of the New York No Wave music scene. Their first recording, credited solely as Contortions, was on the 1978 compilation, No New York, produced by Brain Eno...
and pursue his own equally abrasive musical direction. Both groups were featured on the seminal No New York
No New York
No New York is a compilation album released in 1978 by Antilles Records under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contained songs by four different artists, it is considered by many to be the definitive single album documenting New York City's late-1970s No Wave...
LP, a showcase of the early No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
scene compiled and produced by Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
.
Infamous for playing ten-minute sets filled with thirty-second songs, they sought to take music beyond what Lunch saw as the traditionalism of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
. The group left behind little more than a dozen complete recorded songs with most of the surviving titles collected on the 18-minute career retrospective CD entitled Everything. However other studio versions of several songs exist alongside a few live recordings.
Lunch and Chance both went on to become cult figures of the New York underground music scene and the group has been cited as a significant influence on subsequent post-punk groups such as Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, and The istics.
The band reunited in 2008 for a series of performances, with Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
. The band continued to perform without Moore throughout 2009, including dates in Canada.
Musical style and philosophy
In his book Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984, Simon Reynolds identifies Teenage Jesus & the Jerks as an exercise in rock sacrilege."Teenage Jesus & the Jerks, and their comrade bands, Mars
Mars (band)
Mars was a New York City No Wave band formed by vocalist Sumner Crane in 1975. He was joined by China Burg , Mark Cunningham , and artist Nancy Arlen , and briefly by guitarist Rudolph Grey. The band played one live gig under the name China before changing it to Mars...
, Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions, led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, were one of the original punk jazz groups of the New York No Wave music scene. Their first recording, credited solely as Contortions, was on the 1978 compilation, No New York, produced by Brain Eno...
, and DNA
DNA (band)
DNA was a No Wave band formed in 1978 by guitarist Arto Lindsay and keyboardist Robin Crutchfield. Rather than playing their instruments in a traditional manner, they instead focused on making unique and unusual sounds...
, defined radicalism not as a return to roots but as deracination. Curiously, the No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
groups staged their revolt against rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
tradition by using the standard rock format of guitars, bass, and drums. It was as if they felt the easy electronic route to making post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
noise was too easy. Instead, they used rock’s tools against itself. Which is why No Wave music irresistibly invites metaphors of dismemberment, desecration, ‘defiling rock’s corpse."
Lydia Lunch has voiced her disdain for contemporary rock, claiming in Rip It Up: “I hated almost the entirety of punk rock, I don’t think that No Wave had anything to do with it.”
“Who wanted chords
Guitar chord
In music, a guitar chord is a chord, or collection of tones usually sounded together at once, played on a guitar. It can be composed of notes played on adjacent or separate strings or all the strings together...
, all these progressions
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
that had been used to death in rock? [To play slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
] I’d use a knife, a beer bottle… Glass gave the best sound. To this day I still don’t know a single chord on the guitar.”
Singles and EPs
| Date | Title | Label | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catalogue | ||||
| May 1978 | "Orphans" / "Less of Me" | Migraine Records | 7" vinyl | CC-334 |
| April 1979 | "Baby Doll" | Migraine Records | 7" vinyl | CC-334 |
| 1979 | "Pink EP" | Migraine Records | 12" vinyl | CC-336 |
| 1979 | "Pre-Teenage Jesus EP" | ZE Records | 12" vinyl | ZE12011 |