Issued on Verve Forecast, Teeth Marks is steeped in Kentucky rock 'n' roll truth teller S.G. Goodman's signature caustic wit and social commentary, specifically exploring the various and often painful indelible marks that love can leave behind. Mining garage rock, Appalachian folk and post-punk influence, the album finds Goodman's stirring vocals draped in a sonic patchwork of southern indie rock.

The title track, which recounts dating as a queer woman and facing the jarring reality of unrequited love over a swirling guitar lick, was debuted via Rolling Stone, who stated, "Goodman launches a wounded plea at an unavailable lover. Verses and choruses collide with instrumental passages of ethereal beauty, the clouds of ringing feedback calling to mind the mellower side of Yo La Tengo... Her voice glasslike and flecked with pain."

Goodman explained, "This is a song about the phantom limb of love: a condition in which a lover's mind is deluded and we make the mistake of taking a step forward, only to fall face first into the reality of another's heart. A reality we are unwilling to accept – a land of false promise we find ourselves not equipped to walk in."