Listen: Tweens – “Be Mean”

A gooey bubblegum centre hidden by an arsenal of thundering guitars and feedback, “Be Mean”, our first taster of Ohio three-piece Tweens’ debut album, may not resemble too much of a departure to what we’re used to hearing from them. Then again, that suits us just fine.

Fresh from opening for The Breeders on their most recent tour, “Be Mean” hurtles along at an alarming pace but never once skimps on its ability to linger long in the memory; Bridget Battle’s warbling refrain of “Mean, mean, I want you to be mean” occupying dangerously catchy waters.

It all comes clattering to a halt in a sticky tangle of biting percussion, stinging reverb and Battle’s sugary shriek, falling silent before, inevitably, you return the track to its opening and revel in Tweens’ gloriously ramshackle glee over and over again.