NEW JERSEY — Few destinations have a richer musical history than New Jersey.

Acts like Frank Sinatra, Frankie Valli, Whitney Houston, and Bruce Springsteen are some of the most revered artists of all time, and they all came from our small state. Yet, one aspect of New Jersey’s music scenes largely goes unnoticed by the rest of the country.

The underground.

New Jersey’s underground rock scenes are some of the most fruitful in the country. My Chemical Romance, The Feelies, Streetlight Manifesto, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and so many more made their name in the Garden State and have either gone on to international fame or intangible influence.

Now, the South Jersey area is picking up steam with brand new artists popping up left and right across Rowan, Rutgers, Stockton, and more. Yet, very little of these acts evoke the feeling of nostalgia more than Absecon’s own – Te Vista.

Te Vista released their debut album, House, at the end of last year and have been steadily accumulating show after show since, and it’s not difficult to see why.

It’s a triumph.

Songs like “Pull My Train”, “Thought He Cared”, and “Corpse” are fantastic tunes that use jangly chords and tight songwriting that create low-key anthems. Other songs like “Lies,” “Fight Another Day,” and “Living’s Just Like That” showcase the band’s versatile textures and production, which is the work of member Niko Berardo. In order to give the band their texturized sound, Berardo recorded the band digitally in Pro Tools before bouncing the audio to cassette tapes, which were then re-recorded back into his digital audio workstation for that warm, tactile sound.

“Mountain Punk” is another standout that offers an eerie Lightfoot-esque number to the record. Written in 6/8, its haunting vocals (sung by vocalist Ricky Hardin) are supported by a swinging acoustic guitar and dark piano that create the most intimate moment on the record.

Prior to House, the band released a self-titled EP in 2023, which featured the local hit “Resurrect Me,” which got pressed into a 7-inch as a B-side to “Pull My Train.” Also on the EP was an early version of “Mountain Punk” – two years before its rerecording on House.

Te Vista’s songs are written by the songwriting duo of Niko Berardo and Ricky Hardin, and their songwriting style is an amalgamation of many different influences across several periods in pop music.

“It’s an intersection of both our influences,” said Berardo.

“Ricky has the Eagles, Tom Petty, and Gordon Lightfoot under his belt. Really classic Americana stuff from the 70s, but he’s also got a little Beatles edge to him as well – along with the Byrds and the Kinks. That’s where we meet, we grew up around a lot around that, and so did I. ”

Berardo describes the band’s sound as almost fluid, saying that Te Vista’s sound is “whatever we wanted to be at any given time.” He references the song “Decieve Yourself” from their EP as an example of this, describing the song as a Beatles and Warning-era Green Day hybrid.

As much as Te Vista wears their influences on their sleeve, their sound is unmistakably their own. Their debut album is truly one of the most notable releases out of Atlantic County, and soon they’re going to be one of the greatest exports from the Atlantic City scene.

House is available on Bandcamp and is also available on all streaming platforms.