INDIE ALBUM REVIEW - TWISTED TEENS BLAME THE CLOWN (A Track by Track Review)

 TWISTED TEENS

BLAME THE CLOWN

REVIEW WRITTEN BY JOE COMPTON

RELEASED: FEBRUARY 13, 2026

11 TRACKS = 30 MINUTES

GARAGE ROCK/NEW WAVE PUNK

It is very apparent from note one of this latest effort from this New Orleans Punk Rock Duo that you can take Punk Rock out of the Jazz, but you can't take the Jazz out of New Orleans' Punk Rock. This experimental, avant -garde, and advantageous tour de force of 11 tracks is pure energy, pure soul, and the truest form of expression I have experienced in a full listen through in a while. Right from the opening track, until the final note, I was captured and enamored with the entirety of this misadventure. 

It starts right away with so far my absolute favorite song of the year, "Is It Real?" You can hear the visceral record scratching as the pounding beat absorbs you and penetrates your eardrums with a melodic head-bop. Then Cas P. Ian lays down this mix of a Joe Cocker meets Iggy Pop vocal styling that permeates and resonates throughout all 11 tracks in some form of raspiness or another. More on tempo changes and different vocal approaches later in this review. Needless to say, the song is a combination of a think piece meets in the pit danceable thumper. It sets the tone for what's to come. 

And what comes next is this almost deconstructed Oi meets Violent Femmes-esque groove that is as catchy as it is poignant. It is "Wild Connection". There is this interesting retrospective element to what rings true in the vocals that almost feels like an audio yearbook of sorts. Never mind its catchy as hell rhythmically, and I love it never waivers.  

Next comes this Carne-like riff that feels like a road trip bebop turned on its head. We go for a different ride within "I Operate". I should also say not an unwelcomed one, as the pacing and the cadence's fury in which we are inundated into this awesome expression, just wins you over almost immediately. Pulling from their contemporaries, bands like Dry Cleaning, the spoken word-esque validation here is perfect.  There is a great vocal shift in which you get this almost Jeff Daniels meets Tom Waits grifting aww-shuckness. 

I love how we get this Ramones-esque old school radio intro for the next number. "Little Seed" is one of those grenades on this album. Wherein it doesn't stick right away for this listener, but the more I absorb the album, the more it feels like this track not only wins me over but becomes a true favorite. This is the first time you hear some of the production value, as there is incredible layering of background vocals and noises that punch a song to make it more unique than its predecessors. As this has the same stylings and rhythms as Connection and Real. 

I would like to take a moment to interlude on how much Razor Ramone's sense of critical timing sets the pace for this album up to this point, and as we dive deeper, it only grows. That allows this space of freedom that I think Cas takes full advantage of, and his strumming has this beautiful Americana vibe like that of The Violent Femmes or even like a Tom Petty. You can feel that down hominess through this album, and while it defies the conventions of that genre, it blends their uniqueness as a duo into it, much like a Jazz band would in a jam session that sounded pre-recorded and planned out, but alas, could not be further from the truth.

Back to your regularly scheduled blog post....

In "100 Bill is Gone!," there is a slide guitar riff showcasing a new level of prowess and providing another interesting production cue that keeps us engaged, even though we are really being recycled here. It's the power of a band that knows it has a sound or voice and just finds different orchestrated avenues to stretch its limits. I also love the chorus and tempo shift that comes with this one. I also love how Cas's vocal stylings, while staying grounded, stretch in this song too. This feels like one of those songs they probably debated where to put on the album, and I think, as a whole, it fits well. I also think that, on its own, while it doesn't showcase the truest of essences for these guys, it does show their foundation enough to be strong enough on its own as almost even a B-side-like offering.

Next comes the 1st drastic tempo change as we slide into an almost 60s-esque feel-good ditty, "Peekaboo Hand", reminding me a lot of bands Faces and Mott the Hoople. There is a charming Southern twang to the slide guitar mixed with a little acoustic. This is where you really get that Joe Cocker- esque belting voice of Cas. There's agorgeous bridge within this song too that just is so mesmerising. As far as construction and musical prowess get, this is the high bar on the high end of that spectrum. 

In comes where Twisted Teens outsmart us all and throw a callback within the same album with what may not exactly be a sequel to the opening track, but it is a version built on that; if nothing else, the title tells you so, "Not Real".  A nice, squealing background riff carries some of the best lyrical moments for the album, as Cas once again incorporates a pseudo spoken word-like cadence to his vocal stylings in the verses. "There's a punishment for being honest with yourself and with others. Makes a man from an early age regress all expressions of rage."  Love how the chorus falls into a nice dynamic of notes, spilling out into an echo chamber of musical exclamation points. This all leads to Cas just belting an emotional ferocity of lyrical salvos that blend into a chorus halo of familiarity (*wink-wink*).

If Real Part Duex is the pick-me-up point in a full album listen, "Who Could It Be?"  plays the sad clown. This is an interesting mix of sampling meets street corner buskering. There is a passion play within this track that feels like an exhale from the duo. This is the most New Orleans this album has felt, and it leads to an almost Life Goes On type of bepbopping that again, like Operate, feels like a time capsule reveal.

"Circus Clown" falls into the road trip, almost rockabilly/surfer rock vibe that has been threatening to bust out, and here it leads to a nice bit of verse aversion where one stanza speaks to a synonym of the next. There is some awesome picking from Cas here, very rockabilly standard but impressive nonetheless. With these cool siren wails in the background that give off Chris Isaak vibes or that surfer rock idea. The vocal stylings stay in that high soprano voice, crackling with a passion that really feels appropriate for the song.

After all that nostaligia "Hurricane" brings us into a more recognizable modern flair, where Indie Grunge rock evolved in the past 5 years, and they do it with the uniqueness that I am just so enamoured with when it comes to Twisted Teens. Love the transitions between verses here, something those who have read my reviews might know as a personal taste. Love the crash landing we get when this song ends. 

After 9 very aggressive tracks, we finally get a calmer, stripped down, almost Ballad-like performance with "White Hot Coal". I say ballad, but honestly its feels and sounds more like an English or Irish drinking song. It's just a different tempo and works for a whole album listen and on its own. Love the strings echoing behind the guitar, very communal. This is another grenade for me and one that probably at the end of the year will be the most listened to of all the songs here.  

"Corpse Pose" is a cool sampling and production manipulation that really punctuates a beautiful 11-track experience.  

There are albums with powerful singles, with a few great hits that have a couple of stinkers or also-rans, then there is Blame The Clown. This is not only a no-skips album for me, it is also one of those treasures and game changers that we find every couple of years or so. This duo has such a great range within their sound and an uncanny grip on their capabilities and identity while still being bold and daring and experimenting.  I have already absorbed the back catalogue, and this album is a step up in production, but it is indicative of who they are within what they did in the past. I love that. I love the stretch they make here too, because they do trend into a softer punk vibe here, and it works maybe too well. It will be interesting to see if they stay in this lane or rip across the freeway of punk and go back to the more punchier mosh pit fare. This will be the barometer by which I measure all albums going forward in 2026, and no doubt you'll be hearing me talking about it again at year's end.  

GO GET THIS ALBUM ON BANDCAMP HERE