Loose Tooth 
It’s been quite a few years since the last album from Aussies Loose Tooth, but even after the better part of a decade, the band still brings a bit of bite to the indie pop palette. Slipping from Courtney Barnett’s Milk! Records to the equally enigmatic Blossom Rot, the band has used the last few years to refine their sound, taking their indie-pop doo-wop from the first LP and smoothing the edges while darkening the delivery. The band’s lyrics have harnessed a maturity, letting the bounding energy remain while pondering motherhood, grief, and their place in a rapidly changing world. The band was poised to move Stateside and break towards a bigger audience in the US following their debut and a split with Chastity Belt, but Covid collided with those plans. Shifting priorities towards life choices, both returned to get new degrees and permanent addresse, with Etta embracing family life. That kind of priority shift feels familiar to many, and it’s a big part of the album’s themes. The shift left less emphasis on the band, for a time at least, but old habits die hard and New Age feels just as vibrant as their debut.
The other biggest change is the shift back to a duo. Etta and Nellie have been the core of the band since they were kids, but Luc Dawson rounded out the trio on Keep Up. Back to the core pair, the record is imbued with the spirit of old friends with telepathic grace. New Age embraces bigger sounds and fuller arrangements, a testament to letting an album cook for a few years, without letting things get overworked. Keys and pedal steel pop into view on a few tracks, but the band wields the wired duo dynamic of drums and guitar for the bulk of the record, slinging fuzz riffs, huge hits, and the kind of hooks that tug you out of sleep with their insistent itch. Hearing New Age makes me hopeful that the band can grab that foothold over here that was taking shape pre-2020. With indie pop blooming brighter that ever in the West, New Age feels like its just in time to raise the ropes on 2025’s indie banner.
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