The Tease

Newly christened Syracuse, NY band, the Tease, isn't into water skiing but they've avoided "jumping the shark" on their second EP, Mouse Tornado. It was (blank) that coined the term "sophomore slump or comeback of the year?" but the Tease took it another step with a diminuitive risk that paid gigantic dividends on their sophomore release by changing the instrumentation from electric to acoustic. 'Mouse Tornado' is made up of songs that would initially seem skeletal to fans of the bands' first effort, Jurassic Jamboree. Our heroes deploy acoustic guitars and double-bass for most of the hijynx on 'Mouse Tornado,' while horns and strings push the proceedings into a madcap territory mined by the bands' heroes such as Bruce Springsteen, Charles Mingus and Herbie Hancock. Unlike the folk and jazz set the band relate to, these young men were raised on the tongue-in-cheek antics of bands like NOFX and the Lawrence Arms; a note that may be witnessed in the bands' creative word play. Many bands taking risks as broad as The Tease have been guilty of overcompensating, however these three young Syracuse, NY by way of Lansing, MI musicians are merely guilty of taking baby steps. On 'Mouse Tornado,' The Tease has avoided jumping the shark by simply jumping the mouse.