Album Notes

"Telto seems to take a perverse pleasure in collecting and listing [see http://www.telto.org/telto.htm#comparisons] the disparate musical comparisons that arise when publications review Bugged. The comparisons vary broadly because Telto has found that all-important midpoint between label sampler variety and every-song-sounds-alike homogeneity; while Bugged can clearly be identified as Telto's work, there's no simple formula that can be applied to each song. Songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Leslie Dean is a creative dynamo, favoring unpredictable minor-key melodies and post-goth psychedelic sprawl over standard pop song progression. I'll add a few reference points for the band's trophy wall: their more rocking moments recall Fetchin' Bones, while Dean's passionately quirky vocal delivery hints not only at the mid-eighties 4AD stable, but also at the flat-out weirdness of Caterwaul (a band from the late '80s that I think I may have hallucinated). Every moment on Bugged builds toward the spectacular 'Touch,' which closes the disc with a gorgeous flood of sustained minor key angst. Dean works herself into a furious lather as the guitars peak in a cathartic explosion of sound. Even if the rest of the record fails to engage you - which I find doubtful - you'll listen to 'Touch' again and again."
- (review by Splendid Ezine)

"Gifted songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Leslie Dean should probably be making music for a living. Her raw rock songs have a taste of surf and a tinge of country and mix intelligent lyrics with excellent musicianship..."
- (review by Gangreen)

"Rocketing off the reel like a runaway truck, Telto dig deep into the groove...Leslie Dean is a terrific guitarist, pulling in country, funk, surf and jazz influences and twisting them together forcefully....She's just as compelling as a vocalist....Not to be overlooked are the fluid, jazzy chops of Stock...this rhythm section can turn on a dime." - (review by Alternative Press Magazine)

"...never imitative and occasionally a bit scary in its intensity. Dean's edgy, haunting voice preternaturally drew out her apocryphal, defiant lyrics...Plus, her guitar rocks - her rhythm and lines are unusual and imaginative. Meanwhile Stock beats the precise hell out of his powerful kit...His drumming uncannily complements Dean's changes from major to minor and the songs' shifts in rhythm. Telto...is dead serious and delirious fun at the same time..." - (review by BAM Magazine)

Primarily the vision of guitarist/singer/songwriter, Leslie Dean, Telto is all about the songs. Dean began writing songs as a kid while growing up in rural northwest Arkansas. Her first experience performing with a band was with a folk/old-time country gospel quintet at age 14. Throughout her college years in Boston, Massachusetts, and later in San Francisco, Dean performed both in bands and solo before forming Telto in 1995. There is definitely a "Telto sound," largely defined by the distinctiveness of Dean's voice. Telto's raw, intense, and darkly melodic songs are textured with layers of electric and acoustic guitars, hypnotic grooves and rhythmic variety - kind of slightly country-flavored goth rock (or "hick goth" as Leslie Dean likes to say even though that description doesn't appeal to most people).

In its review of "Bugged," Webzine Delusions of Adequacy says, "the moody, darkly melodic and hauntingly lovely tracks are truly inspired" and Aiding & Abetting writes: "...Another way to look at it is that Telto works very hard to not sound like anyone else. These songs lurch, stumble, roll and slip along, sometimes smoothly and sometimes not. I think that the way that works is largely instinctual...Sounds good, anyways....And just when I think I've almost got a handle on things, Telto goes and does something different. That's pretty much priceless. As long as these folks keep trying to best themselves, I have a feeling they'll be making good music."