Review: Teethe @ Brighton Music Hall 12/7

Photo Credit: Wes Ellis

Review by Kainat Deo

On an unassuming Sunday evening, dedicated show-goers trickled into a dimly lit venue, bodies bathed in shadows. Chatter buzzed throughout the cozy confines of Brighton Music Hall, an intimate gathering space perfectly conducive to the introspection-inducing and atmospheric performance later delivered by Texas-based band, Teethe.

With their roots in Denton, a college town home to the University of North Texas, members of Teethe began organically creating music together in 2020 after they found themselves living together as roommates. Pandemic-induced quarantine inspired their debut, self-titled record, released in November 2020. The band, composed of core members Grahm Robinson, Madeline Dowd, Jordan Garrett, and Boone Patrello, describes the album as “a collection of songs pieced together over time, a sonic collage of fragmented recordings and half-finished tracks made whole in the midst of isolation. Initially self-released […] with little fanfare, the album’s warm, lo-fi aesthetic and slow, calming songs spread by word of mouth.”

From the moment they emerged and disappeared behind the curtains, Teethe absolutely captivated the audience’s attention: pupils dilated, ears perked up, and heads bobbed gently throughout the performance. The tweaks and twangs of guitar strings being tuned subtly drifted into the band’s first track, “Holy Water,” which highlights Dowd’s delicate vocals. The song comes from Teethe’s latest album, “Magic Of The Sale,” released on Aug. 8, 2025. Laden with emotional charge and Teethe’s definitively ethereal sonic texture, the album explores the bounds of the Texas slowcore genre that Teethe occupies, blending classic indie rock sounds with elements of auditory distortion, celestial electronic, and heavy shoegaze.

Throughout the performance, Teethe maintained a collectively enigmatic personality. Presumably, as a uniquely artistic decision, they did not introduce themselves or their songs in any capacity; rather, each track flowed into the next, and the band left the stage without uttering a single word that wasn’t sung in prose. Although the wordlessness was somewhat unconventional, particularly considering the talkative cultural tendencies within indie-show communities, audience engagement was not neglected. There was a tangible feeling of connection between the music maker and the listener, as the continuity of the performance, coupled with reciprocated attentiveness, created an almost sedative ambiance. In pursuit of the setlist, I spoke briefly with Garrett following the performance, who expressed deep gratitude for the respectful listeners and the sense of tacit interconnection.

From “Holy Water,” Teethe transitioned into “Iron Wine,” the sixth track from the aforementioned 2025 release. The song includes a visceral back-and-forth between whispery, thin vocals echoing the tone of Elliot Smith, and aggressive amplification of the guitar, its title an allusion to blood, and its lyrics expressing deeply saturated romantic obsession to the point of vampiric intimacy.

After delivering a connected series of tracks from “Magic Of The Sale,” Teethe shifted to a performance of several songs from their self-titled debut. “Punch,” arguably the slowest point of the evening, boasts a beautiful musical contradiction: fuzzy, soulful, and warm in its aural sense, yet bitterly existential in terms of lyricism. The singer questions repeatedly, “I’m so out of place / How’d I get this way?” A mainly instrumental track, “Off Top,” highlighted interspersed, skeletal guitar solos defined by a high-frequency, almost brittle quality. “Giant Man” is a powerful testament to the emotionality and sense of broader powerlessness evoked by the isolation of the pandemic. In a harmonic jeremiad, Dowd and Robinson sing, “Giant man / Inside the palm of your hand, I stand / I stand, I stand / I stand here for years.”

Teethe closed out their Boston concert by performing “Tag,” a gloomy, somber-sounding single that was released on Jan. 7, 2022. The song quintessentially captures the cryptic, metaphorical prose often utilized by the songwriting members of Teethe: “Push your palm upon the wind / Feel you caught up in my skin / Grass, a blade beneath your chin / You’ll say tag you’re it / And then we’ll start again.” As the track’s simple chords faded from earshot, Teethe solemnly made their departure from the stage, leaving showgoers to buzz, “I think that’s it!” With a curated and consistent sound, esoteric presence, and dedicated listening community, Teethe’s rise in the Texas-shoegaze and indie rock scene signals an exciting future, and hopefully a future Boston encore.