The Ethical Debating Society (aka T.E.D.S.) are a three-piece DIY

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, post-

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement ...

group from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. They have been described as "one of the most exciting DIY bands" in the UK.

History

Initially a solo project for vocalist/guitarist Tegan Christmas, The Ethical Debating Society formed as a band in 2009 with Lauren Darling (guitar) and Chris Morris (drums). They received an early name-check in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

from Everett True. Recordings made with producer Ant Chapman were initially unreleased, although two tracks were included on a later EP. By 2010 Darling and Morris had left and Tegan continued with a varying line up until the group settled as Tegan with Eli Tupa and Kris Martin in 2013. The band played a number of early gigs around the UK

queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically ...

scene, with Ste McCabe, The Younger Lovers and others; following an appearance on

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

queercore label Tuff Enuff Records’s 2012 compilation ''Why Diet When You Could Riot?'' gigs with Shrag and Tunabunny led to a split single with London’s Skinny Girl Diet on US label

Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records is an American independent record label based in Athens, Georgia. Its catalogue features indie rock, indie pop and hip-hop music, with several of its artists associated with or influenced by The Elephant 6 Reco ...

in 2013. A cassette/download EP on Tuff Enuff - "Hens Teeth" - followed in 2014. In 2015, The Ethical Debating Society's debut album ''New Sense'' was released on Odd Box Records following audio and video previews, and received positive reviews from SoundsXP, Collapse Board, Louder Than War and others, with radio support including BBC Radio 6,

Dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...

and Artrocker Radio. The album was produced by Mark Jasper at Sound Savers studio. Album track "Razor Party" (written by former drummer Rob) was voted #32 in the 2015

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

memorial ' Festive 50' compiled by Dandelion Radio. The band supported

Jack Off Jill Jack Off Jill was an American alternative rock band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, founded in 1992 by vocalist Jessicka, drummer Tenni Ah-Cha-Cha, bassist/keyboardist Agent Moulder, and guitarist Michelle Inhell. Though these four women were th ...

at their final show, at

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

in London, and played with

Shonen Knife Shonen Knife is a Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka in 1981. Influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, the Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands such as the Ramones, the band crafts stripped-down songs with simple yet unconventional ...

on the London date of that band's 2016 tour. They played at Indietracks 2015, and have also played with The Wolfhounds,

The Nightingales Nightingales (a.k.a. The Nightingales) are a British post-punk/alternative rock band, formed in 1979 in Birmingham, England, by four members of Birmingham's punk group The Prefects. They had been part of The Clash's 'White Riot Tour', recorde ...

, The Homosexuals, Hagar the Womb,

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, Bis, Lung Leg and Darren Hayman. In 2013, T.E.D.S. were named as a 'band to watch' by

Londonist ''Gothamist'' is a New York City–centric blog operated by New York Public Radio. From 2003 to 2018, Gothamist LLC was the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, an ...

. In 2017, they were included in Clash magazine's list of "favourite new groups" alongside

Shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...

and others. In 2019

Contactmusic ''Contactmusic.com'' is an online magazine of cultural criticism based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films ...

called them "one of the best" London DIY bands.

Discography

Albums

*''New Sense'' – Odd Box Records (UK) 12-inch LP/MP3 (2015)

EPs/Singles

*''Live'' EP, self-released, CDr (2011) *Split EP, HHBTM Records, 7-inch (2013) ith Skinny Girl Dietref name=girlsare_2013_split/> *''Hens Teeth'' EP, Tuff Enuff Records, MC/DL (2014) *"London Particular", self-released, DD (2017) *''Mutual Indecision'' EP, Radical Possibilities, MC/DL (2023)

Compilation appearances

*"Kill You Last" on ''Why Diet When You Can Diet'', Tuff Enuff Records, LP/DD (2012) *"Kill You Last" on ''MC12'', HHBTM Records, MC (2012) *"Future Imperfect" on ''Keroleen Mixtape #1'', Keroleen Records, MC/DD (2015) *"Cover Up" on ''Indietracks Compilation 2015'', Indietracks, DD (2015) *"Riderrr" on ''Odd Box Weekender V'', Odd Box, DD (2015) *" Run Rudolph Run" on ''Riot Grrrl Christmas'',

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label that has the sub-labels Hypnotic Records, Goldenlane, Stardust, Purple Pyramid, Deadline and X-Ray Records. History Founded in January 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in go ...

, CD/DD (2015) *"List of Requirements" on ''Odd Box 2015'', Odd Box, DD (2015) *"Creosote Ideas" on ''Don't Be Left Without Us'', 2CD (2016) *"Poor Liam" on ''Loud Women - Volume One'', Loud Women Records, CD (2017) *"Paywall" on ''Kobayashi I: Intergalactic Champions'', Kobayashi Nights Records, CD/DD (2017) *"Yes" on ''Salvage: A DIY Pop Compilation'', Move Under Your Own Power, MC/DD (2018) *"Emoticon" on ''#SolidarityNotSilence Compilation (Pt1)'' (2019)

Line up

Current

*Tegan Christmas (vocals, guitar) *Lu (drums) *Kris Martin (guitar, vocals)

*Eli Tupa (drums, 2013-2019) *Rob Macabre (drums, 2010-2012) *Dave Burbidge (drums, 2013) *Su (percussion/bvs, 2010-2013) *Lauren Darling (guitar/vocals, 2009) *Chris Morris (drums, 2009)

References

External links

Stereosanctity album review2015 interview2015 interview2015 album review2016 interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ethical Debating Society, The Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom Riot grrrl bands British feminist musicians English feminists English punk rock groups Indie rock groups from London English indie pop groups