Tereu Tereu, GIF-ified. (Via the artist)

By DCist Contributor Alan Zilberman

DC’s prog-pop duo Tereu Tereu released Quandrants a few months ago, and it’s one of the area’s most listenable, sonically diverse albums. Dueling guitar lines define the opening track “Savage Love,” with vocalist/guitarist Ryan Little wailing “I can help you out!” before he and drummer Brendan Polmer reach a post-punk influenced crescendo. “Cut the Line” begins with a mellow acoustic guitar melody before it adds siren-like synths and a thrumming bass. But the album’s standout track is “Gratitude,” a snarky anthem on modern life and privilege, and now the band has an accompanying video.

The song’s structure is simpler than the others on the record, which give Little an opportunity to list off things we all taken for granted (some are uglier than others). Director Rahmin Atarod films the band performing at a variety of locations, including a swimming pool and a basketball court, and each one provokes a sense of alienation. Little shouts “Thank you America!” while he’s stuck in an elevator with Polmer (the use of the fisheye lens adds to the sense of claustrophobia). Still, for all its biting sarcasm, the song and video reach catharsis once they reach a sense of gleeful, inevitable anarchy. Thanksgiving may be over, but that doesn’t mean our thoughtfulness should be limited to the obvious or the comfortable.

Tereu Tereu plays at Tropicalia on December 12. Tickets are $10. More info here.