The Rock*A*Teens is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from Cabbagetown,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, 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 29 October 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 alto singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls. She also pursues a solo career and has released six albums under her own name, and founded a record company, Daem ...

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 expanded ...

, 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 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 was originally know ...

. (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, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of t ...

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

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellow ...

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

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

performance in 1998 and related visits to

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Man Or Astroman, 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 begun in late 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963). The name "Oxford American" is a play on ''T ...

'' 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 music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

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