Future Teens - "Deliberately Alive"

12" / CD / Digital Released: March 12, 2021 2020 was poised to be Future Teens’ breakout year. After releasing their sophomore LP Breakup Season, cosplaying as Carly Rae Jepsen, and zeroing on the romantic longing of fans worldwide, the Boston quartet was rising. While such a hard stop was part of every band’s story in 2020, the momentum hadn’t left the group — guitarists/vocalists Amy Hoffman and Daniel Radin, drummer Colby Blauvelt, and bassist Maya Mortman — straying too far from their central heartline. Deliberately Alive, their blustery follow-up EP, is Future Teens at their most explosive and earnest, showcasing a band in between journal volumes. Fans of the band’s confessional tone will hear it ring throughout, regardless of the messenger. When Hoffman’s lead vocalist, you get “Guest Room,” a strutting emo-pop moment where there’s more than just the first of the month living rent-free in their head. Radin’s turn brings “Play Cool,” a vignette of gig life and the fallouts tha