The Rock*A*Teens is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from Cabbagetown,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, United States, who were active during most of the 1990s and reformed in 2014.

History

The Rock*A*Teens began work on April 1, 1994 in Cabbagetown. The lineup consisted of Chris Lopez (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard), Justin Davis Hughes (guitar, piano, organ, backing vocals),

Kelly Hogan Kelly Hogan (born January 11, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, often known for her work as a member of Neko Case's backing band, as well as for her solo work. Early and personal life Hogan was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of ...

(guitar, backing vocals) and

Chris Verene Christopher Phillip Verene (born October 29, 1969) is an American fine arts and documentary photographer, performance artist, and musician. He is a professor of photography at the College of Staten Island, CUNY. Verene was awarded a Guggenheim ...

(drums). They were later signed to

Daemon Records Amy Elizabeth Ray (born April 12, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls with Emily Saliers. She also pursues a solo career, releasing ten albums under her own name, and founded the independent ...

and released two records, the self-titled debut and ''Cry''.

and Chris Verene quit in the summer of 1997 and were replaced by Jeff Patch and Brandon Smith. The band signed 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 ...

, and two singles were released, one on Merge and the other on

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in February 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but it was orig ...

. (All four songs were re-recorded for the first Merge full length ''Baby A Little Rain Must Fall'' by the trio of Lopez, Smith and Hughes. The two separate versions of "Ether Sunday", when played simultaneously, sync up perfectly). Jeff Patch offered his resignation during the return from the first west coast tour with new friends

Superchunk Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Laura King. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that hel ...

, after having blown the transmission of their van "Big Gary" during a side trip to

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

. Subsequently, Chris Verene returned to the band for a brief period, including a

SXSW 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 ...

performance in 1998 and related visits to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. He was replaced by T. Ballard Lesemann III in early summer 1998, after he had demonstrated his ability to perform most songs from memory without having practiced them. He was immediately signed up for a summer 1998 tour headlining the entire country. Afterwards, this line up recorded the second Merge album, ''Golden Time''. Following a national tour with

Man Or Astroman Man or Astro-man? is an American surf rock group that was formed in Auburn, Alabama in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade. Primarily instrumental, "Man or Astro-man?" blended the surf rock style of the early 1960s, ...

, Brandon Smith exited the group, originally to be replaced by Hayden from

Servotron Servotron was a science fiction-influenced rock band active from 1995 to 1999. Members portrayed a collective of robots whose chosen medium for dissemination of ideas was music. They claimed to spread the word of robot domination, encouraging ma ...

, who turned out to be wanted by the law. A few weeks before a tour with

, a soon to be prominent local lawyer named William Joiner joined the group and stayed the last few years of the band, recording ''Sweet Bird of Youth'', their last album for some while, and an EP for Atlanta label Moodswing Records called ''Noon Under the Trees'', as well as going on multiple tours. The Winter 2015 issue of ''

Oxford American The ''Oxford American'' is a quarterly magazine that focuses on the American South. First publication The magazine was founded in late 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963). The name "Oxford American" is a play on ' ...

'' featured a story by Abigail Covington about the Rock*A*Teens. Their sixth album, ''Sixth House'' was released in June 2018.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

noted that "Sixth House is less manic than the Rock*A*Teens of yore, but this music still generates the vague but uncomfortable feeling that something could leap out and grab you by the face at any moment..."

Discography

*''The Rock*A*Teens'' (January 23, 1996) *''Cry'' (February 18, 1997) *''Baby, A Little Rain Must Fall'' (April 21, 1998) *''Golden Time'' (March 23, 1999) *''Sweet Bird of Youth'' (October 3, 2000) *''Noon Under the Trees'' EP (2001) *''Sixth House'' (July 6, 2018)

References

External links

Daemon RecordsMerge RecordsCreative Loafing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock A Teens, The 1994 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2002 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Daemon Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups from Atlanta Musical groups reestablished in 2014 Merge Records artists