After 25+ years on the Memphis music landscape, The Subteens (Mark Akin, John Bonds, and Jay Hines) are regarded by many as underground local legends. Forming in the fall of 1995, the group quickly evolved into a unit who could consistently write irresistible “trash-pop” nuggets, performing them at raucous, frenzied live shows. During a time when many bands took themselves way too seriously, The Subteens arrived on the scene to have fun.
Word spread fast in local reviews, and the accolades quickly followed from the likes of Billboard magazine and CMJ New Music Monthly. For three years running, Da Teens were selected to perform at Crossroads (a three-day event featuring unsigned bands from across the US), chosen as one of five groups to perform at the prestigious Producers’ Showcase their final year. A little later, they were picked to play the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. And for several years, they were voted by fans and critics alike among the best groups in The Memphis Flyer’s annual Music issue, one year tying with the Oscar-winning Three 6 Mafia!
But after extensive touring and the release of two rock-solid albums (Burn Your Cardigan, So That’s What the Kids Are Calling It …), the band imploded for various reasons in 2004. Only a handful of reunion shows followed, including a 20-year anniversary performance at The Levitt (Overton Park) Shell in 2015.
Time passed.
Then in October of 2022, The Subteens released their first new collection of songs in 18 years, Vol. 4: Dashed Hopes and Good Intentions (produced by J.D. Reager for Back to the Light Records). Much praise for the new record ensued, including this bit from The Memphis Flyer’s Alex Greene:
I call it that “Bastards of Young” sound, after the classic Replacements song: big, broad, propulsive anthems, driving riffs, and soaring solos that offer portraits from an underground community teetering between hope, exultation, rage, and despair.
Now, The Subteens are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Burn Your Cardigan (also on Back to the Light Records) with its re-release, remastered and available on vinyl for the first time ever. Also included are rare photos and insights by the esteemed Mr. Chris Davis, longtime supporter and former editor of The Memphis Flyer.
Or …
The Subteens are a lovable band of misfits and morons who have happily failed every challenge set before them. Too stubborn to quit but too lazy to exert any actual effort, the group decided long ago that success is for amateurs. And yet somehow, amid alcohol-induced psychotic breaks, avoidable jail stints, and bouts of crippling depression, the group continues to drift menacingly around the local music scene like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
You have been warned.