Some bands can be described in terms of their influences. An attempt to list all the artists and genres that feed into TEKE::TEKE’s distinctive sound would blow through a word count within a single song. Surf rock and psychedelia are touchstones, as are punk-rock attitude and metal bombast—but none of those quite prepare you for a trombone solo bursting through the feedback, or a soaring flute doubling Maya Kuroki’s gorgeous vocal melodies. Toss your preconceptions aside; TEKE::TEKE isn’t interested in being remotely predictable.

Initially intended as a one-off tribute to Japanese guitar hero Takeshi Terauchi, TEKE::TEKE started in 2019 playing mostly instrumental surf-rock covers. Kuroki’s introduction to the band soon pushed them into unknown territory, her expressive voice stitching together the tangle of seemingly incompatible musical ideas. An actress and performance artist, she keeps the songs emotionally grounded, even as she veers from spoken word and soft balladry to outright howls, all in her native Japanese.

Now touring behind their sophomore album, 2023’s Hagata, TEKE::TEKE have somehow become tighter and more chaotic, more eclectic and yet more defined. Bouncing between dual-guitar riffs, hushed interludes, and cosmic jams, it’s as if the septet shares a single mind—they’ve tapped into one weird wavelength, but there’s no doubt they’re all tuned in to the same frequency.

— Peter Hemminger