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FilterThe reasons we love the Parisians-by-way-of-London rockers are only partially for their adolescent kitsch and filth. [Winter 2008, p.97]
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Reality Check stands as a fun, frank and startlingly perceptive debut that surprises for all the right reasons.
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UncutTrue, every song here is virtually identical, but at least it's a great song. [Apr 2008, p.94]
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BlenderIt's one big, horny wink--halfway between charming and totally sleazy. [Apr 2008, p.78]
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The Teenagers are pretty damn good at distilling all things incredible, wicked and true about being young.
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Buy into the notion that The Teenagers are in fact a satirical comment on the "Shockwaves Generation", and this is a dry, impeccably observed album, closer in spirit to Arab Strap than any of the nu-rave favourites.
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Though these songs, like 'Feeling Better,' are the album's goofiest, they present the band at its most sincere, celebrating the vitality, if not the emotional immaturity, that precedes one's 20th birthday.
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Under The RadarThe gimmick factor is high, but when one gets past all this, the songs on Reality Check are simply catch-as-hell pop tunes with a hormonal teen's penchant toward the lustful and reactionary. [Spring 2008, p.84]
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Reality Check won’t change the world, but it will make the lives of new-found fans a little more special.
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After a handful of other singles and remixes, the full-length debut Reality Check still can't match the Teenagers' first time, but it shows a developing group with their own distinct take on misspent youth in the era of free internet porn.
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Even though the formula is a winning one (and sounds pretty thrilling in small doses), by the end of the album you feel like you were listening to one really long song.
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Reality Check is best approached with caution, but it's worth a listen.
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Reality Check vacillates between Serge Gainsbourg's slutty cool and Jonathan's Richman's childlike poignance. [Apr 2008, p.106]
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The Teenagers have not made a great album, but it is better than many will want to admit.
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If you’ve got the savvy to work out how some of Reality Check is actually occasionally brilliant, then you should also be able to figure out it’s also absolute shit.
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Q MagazineIt's singing their filthy lyrics in thick French accents that spoils the party. [Apr 2008, p.115]
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There’s nothing wrong with a band being crass. But when that band tries to act like they’re doing it in order to make a vague, nonsensical statement on twenty-first century love and sex, the result is albums like Reality Check.
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If this weren’t such a disingenuous, cynical and generally creepy record, it would be something I could really get behind.
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Throw away your fashion magazines and join the army, teenagers.
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Regardless of whether Reality Check is "bad" or simply bad, The Teenagers belong on the scrap heap.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 9
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Mixed: 0 out of 9
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Negative: 1 out of 9
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JimF.Apr 20, 2008Love. This. Record.
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MattA.Apr 9, 2008Hey critics take it easy on the Teenagers. This album deserves an 8 for "Homecoming" alone.
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YorkD.Mar 25, 2008It contains six potential singles. Fresh and funny!