Stop Looking for Su Tissue of Suburban Lawns: On the Inappropriate Nature of Internet Sleuths
Spotify has a strange way of bringing bands that were once uber niche, subcultural nods that only Discogs members appreciated, into the ears of any schmuck who left their playlist radio playing for too long. As an avid user of the platform from the age of twelve - that’s almost fifteen years of me giving the algorithm everything they need to know - I have been scouring suggested artist after suggested artist. I’d waltz into English class and ask if I can listen to Kleenex during independent reading time. I’d pace between the A and the P of the record shop looking for Playing with a Different Sex by Au Pairs. As insufferable as that made me, nothing compared to hearing the very same songs come up as my friends played their own Spotify accounts on their suggested mixes. The indescribable crush of your ego when you realise a large part of your music taste was crafted by the algorithm, not solely on your own digital crate digging skills. Maybe you start off with Mac Demarco, and then in a few clicks you’re in a New Wave pipeline, Devo and the like, and it all brings you to Suburban Lawns.
Suburban Lawns reached a semi level of fame, having their debut single Gidget Goes to Hell played on Saturday Night Live, with a music video directed by Jonathan Demme. The band includes Vex Billingsgate, Frankie Ennui, Chuck Roast, John Gleur, and, of course, Su Tissue. Their music is fun, erratic and almost silly. It makes you want to dance in strange ways, and Tissue’s voice gives a subterranean quality. Somewhat nasally, somewhat high pitch, and then low pitch, and then an array of noises a child might make for fun. I promise, I mean this all as a positive; their music is thoroughly enjoyable, unique and makes a mark on most who listen. Her singing paired with long, sleek hair and the air of a ghostly Victorian child makes for an unforgettable frontwoman, and even more so when you discover she has dropped off the face of the Earth.
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After the breakup of Suburban Lawns in 1983, Su Tissue (real name Sue McLane) went to Berklee College of Music to study piano, and released the solo album Salon de musique. This ambient album is now well sought after, with the Discogs listings being as high as £1,458 for a pressing. Tissue had a final public appearance with a small role in the 1986 film Something Wild. Scrolling through the comment section, people are enthralled with the short moments Tissue has on screen. One commenter writes: “Damn, Su is so cute...and so herself here. Uncomfortable and charmingly awkward as usual.” Another, “WHAT HAPPENED TO SU TISSUE?? It's driving me crazy not knowing!” Her male fans seem to view her in an Aubrey Plaza light, strange, mysterious, deadpan and beautiful despite her awkward interactions. What’s strange though is that Aubrey Plaza is an A-list celebrity, and Tissue has very little information about her available to the public. What does the commenter mean by her being ‘so herself’ if we only know her via the fuzzy pixels of a handful of 480p YouTube videos? Is Su their Manic Pixie Dream Girl? What does she feel about this? Do we deserve to even know?
“Something about having no farewell statement, no abandoned Twitter, no nothing, makes for a unique situation. Almost everyone has an internet trial. But not Sue.”
Su Tissue makes music bros become adjacent to middle aged true crime junkies with Reddit posts and Facebook groups dedicated to tracking her down. Although I’m not much better - when I first came across Suburban Lawns around the age of fifteen, deep down in the autoplay rabbit hole I mentioned, I proceeded to stay awake until 4am positive I will figure out where this incredible, enigmatic artist is. I created a fake LinkedIn account; no one has thought of doing this before. Of course, I had no success. I’m unsure why I wanted to track down Tissue. She did her part with her music and decided to leave. Something about having no farewell statement, no abandoned Twitter, no nothing, makes for a unique situation. Almost everyone has an internet trial. But not Sue.
Maybe it was due to being infatuated by any cool woman I saw on stage that had an intriguing stage presence and an ability to make a mark on history with their craft. Maybe it was not being used to searching something and the internet saying “‘no, you will not find this out. Not today, maybe not ever.” The majority of people who are caught up in fan culture have a problem with boundaries. Being 12 years old on Google Earth strolling through Beverly Hills trying to find Gerard Way’s house is inappropriate, but it felt so fun at the time.
Allegedly, a man called Paul tracked Su down. He states that he found her but Su wanted to be left alone, so Paul made the good decision to not share her whereabouts and to delete the Facebook page he created. Whether or not he was telling the truth, we will never know, just as we will most likely never know what Su is up to today. On ancient forums, some think she’s a lawyer in California and some a piano teacher. The more time you spend looking into this, the more it feels inappropriate. It seems unfair that she can’t achieve anonymity. The desire to leave the public eye could be for any reason, deeper than a fan’s desire to ‘needing to know’ where their favourite art-rock-new-wave lead singer has gone off to.
I hope Su is doing well and remains to keep the privacy she desires, and I hope she finds joy in her music being a well loved, unique stamp in the new wave genre. Her eccentric style lives on in pinterest boards and fan-made YouTube videos, and that should be enough for all of us.
Words: Charlotte Amy Landrum
