Imperial Teen is a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

–based

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

group made up of Roddy Bottum (

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...

), primarily on guitar/vocals; Will Schwartz (also of Hey Willpower), primarily on guitar/vocals; Lynn Truell (née Perko, formerly of Sister Double Happiness,

the Dicks Dicks were an American punk rock band from Austin, Texas, formed in 1980 and initially disbanded in 1986. After the first breakup, singer Gary Floyd formed the band Sister Double Happiness, with drummer Lynn Perko, then later fronted a project ...

, and the Wrecks), primarily on drums and backing vocals; and Jone Stebbins (previously of the Wrecks), primarily on bass and backing vocals. Imperial Teen became known for its boy–girl harmonies and for all four members switching off and on instruments during shows.

History

Imperial Teen first gained notice with its debut album, '' Seasick'', in 1996, which was produced by Steve McDonald (

Redd Kross Redd Kross is an American Rock music, rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steven Shane McDonald, Steve McDonald while Steve was still i ...

). ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' magazine went on to list it as the fourth-best album of the year and in the top 50 albums of all time. Of the "queer alt-rockers Imperial Teen", one ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reviewer wrote that "though every song on the album is good, the best are the ones about homosexuality ('Butch'),

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

('You're One'), and complete nonsense ('Imperial Teen')". "You're One" was the album's breakout single, receiving heavy radio play on alternative stations; a promotional video was also produced for the song. Prior to the debut album's release, the band was called Star 69, but was forced to change the name after a band from New York threatened to sue. The band's second album, '' What Is Not to Love'', was released in 1998 and expanded the three-minute pop of ''Seasick'' with songs of over six minutes in length. A ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' review of the album said that "Imperial Teen still have this turf all to themselves, and they blast through the bubblegum riffs of 'Birthday Girl', 'Year of the Tan' and 'Lipstick'". Its single "Yoo Hoo" appeared on the soundtrack to '' Jawbreaker'', starring Rose McGowan; McGowan also appeared alongside the band in the video for the song, which was included on the ''Jawbreaker'' DVD. To add authenticity to a parody scene in '' Not Another Teen Movie'', "Yoo Hoo" is heard briefly during Jaime Pressly's slow-motion entrance. "Yoo Hoo" was also heard at the beginnings of the ''

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

'' season 4 episode "Black Swan" and the ''

Daria ''Daria'' is an American adult animation, adult animated sitcom television series created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis, Susie Lewis Lynn. The series ran from March 3, 1997, to January 21, 2002, on MTV. It centers on the titular character, D ...

'' season 3 episode "Daria Dance Party". The band toured throughout these years, and its success led to opening several dates in 1998 for

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

, fronted by

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...

, a friend and (briefly) former

bandmate of Roddy Bottum. Imperial Teen was also slated to be the opening act for one leg of the 1999

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

–Hole Beautiful Monsters Tour, but the tour ended after only a few March dates when Hole dropped out and Manson had to postpone dates due to an ankle injury. Imperial Teen ended up headlining a club tour instead. A 1999 article in ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'' said of the band, "With lyrical allusions to wearing lipstick and male pronouns used to address love objects, Imperial Teen serves up a gay sensibility that ordinarily surfaces only from straight bands like Pulp or Pizzicato Five."Roddy Bottum article – ''The Advocate''
February 16, 1999 Bottum (who

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as gay in 1993) noted, "I think there's a resistance from gay artists to go that route just because it's so predictable. But it is annoying to see bands play it as safe as they do these days. That's why something that visually screams as loud as Marilyn Manson is such a breath of fresh air." Issues with support levels and label restructuring at

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

prompted Imperial Teen to switch to

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

for the 2002 release of its third album, '' On'', which was produced by Steve McDonald (again) and

Anna Waronker Anna Jeanette Waronker is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and producer best known as the frontwoman of That Dog. She is the daughter of producer Lenny Waronker and actress and musician Donna Loren, the sister of session drummer Joey ...

(of

That Dog That Dog (stylized as that dog.) is a Los Angeles-based rock music, rock band that formed in 1992 and disbanded in 1997, reuniting in 2011. The band originally consisted of Anna Waronker on lead vocals and guitar, Rachel Haden on bass guitar an ...

). The lead track, "Ivanka" (originally released on the ''Sweet and Touching''

7-inch In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

), received radio play. Imperial Teen toured with

the Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ( ...

in 2002 in support of the album. On July 31, 2002, the band played a gig at Maxwell's in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

, that was recorded for posterity and released three months later as the CD '' Live at Maxwell's''. Will Schwartz joined with Tomo Yasuda for his dance side project Hey Willpower. The outfit, also including dancers Erin Rush and Justin Kelly, released a self-titled EP in 2005. Imperial Teen returned on the live scene with two shows at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

music festival in March 2007. The band released its first album in five years, ''

The Hair the TV the Baby and the Band ''The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band'' is the fourth studio album by the indie rock band Imperial Teen. It is the follow-up to '' On'' (2002), and was released in the U.S. on August 21, 2007, by Merge Records. The album was #38 on ''Rolling Sto ...

'', in late August 2007 on Merge Records. It was later selected as the 38th-best record of 2007 by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine.Robert Christgau, David Fricke, Christian Hoard, Rob Sheffield (December 17, 2007)
"The Top 50 Albums of 2007"
''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved December 20, 2007 The band's fifth studio album, '' Feel the Sound'', was released on January 31, 2012. Jone Stebbins said in a 2017 interview that the band was preparing material for a sixth studio album, although the process is slowed down by their living far apart from one another. Roddy Bottum revealed in late 2018 that he was mixing a new Imperial Teen album. The album was released by Merge Records in June 2019, titled ''Now We Are Timeless''.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Seasick'' (1996) * '' What Is Not to Love'' (1998) * '' On'' (2002) * '' The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band'' (2007) * '' Feel the Sound'' (2012) * ''Now We Are Timeless'' (2019)

Live albums

* '' Live at Maxwell's'' (2002)

Singles and EPs

* ''Imperial Teen'' (1996) – vinyl 45 * ''You're One'' (1996) – vinyl 45 * "Butch" (1996) – various CD singles, promos, and 45s * ''Sweet and Touching'' (date unknown) – vinyl 45

Songs on compilations

* "Balloon (Remix)" on ''American Eagle Outfitters: Spring Music'' compilation (1997) * "Yoo Hoo" on the '' Jawbreaker Movie Soundtrack'' (1999) * "The Beginning" on ''Ten Years of Noise Pop 1993–2002'' (2002) * "Sugar" on ''Merge Records Presents Survive and Advance, Volume 1'' (2002) * "Freaks" on ''Wig in a Box: Songs from & Inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (2003) * "Ivanka" on ''Old Enough to Know Better'' (2004)

References

External links

Imperial Teen official websiteImperial Teen MySpaceMerge Records Imperial Teen website
{{Authority control LGBTQ-themed musical groups Merge Records artists Musical groups established in 1996 Queercore groups Indie pop groups from San Francisco 1996 establishments in California