Imperial Teen is a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

–based

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

group made up of

Roddy Bottum Roswell Christopher Bottum (born July 1, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist for the San Francisco alternative metal band Faith No More. He is also guitarist and co-lead vocalist for the pop group Imperial Teen, best kn ...

(

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...

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

Sister Double Happiness Sister Double Happiness was an alternative rock, alternative blues rock band that existed from 1986 until 1995, formed in San Francisco, CA, United States. Its core members were Gary Floyd and Lynn Perko, who were in the seminal punk rock band Th ...

the Dicks ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, and

the Wrecks The Wrecks are an American pop rock band based in Los Angeles, California. The band is currently made up of Nick Anderson (musician), Nick Anderson, Nick "Schmizz" Schmidt, Aaron Kelley, and Billy Nally. The group's first single "Favorite Liar," ...

), 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 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 Steve McDonald while Steve was still in middle school. With the additio ...

). ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' 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'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' 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 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

('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, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' 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 Rósa Arianna "Rose" McGowan (born September 5, 1973) is an American actress. After her film debut in a brief role in the comedy ''Encino Man'' (1992), McGowan achieved wider recognition for her performance in the dark comedy ''The Doom Generati ...

; 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 ''Not Another Teen Movie'' is a 2001 American teen parody film directed by Joel Gallen and written by Mike Bender, Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson, Phil Beauman, and Buddy Johnson. It features an ensemble cast including Chyler Leigh, Chris Eva ...

'', "Yoo Hoo" is heard briefly during

Jaime Pressly Jaime Elizabeth Pressly (born July 30, 1977) is an American actress, fashion designer, and model. Best known for her role as Joy Turner on the NBC sitcom ''My Name Is Earl'', she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a ...

'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 original 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 created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis, Susie Lewis Lynn. The series ran from March 3, 1997, to January 21, 2002, on MTV. It focuses on the title character, Daria Morgendorffer, ...

'' 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. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

, 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, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as t ...

, 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 came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

–Hole

Beautiful Monsters Tour The Beautiful Monsters Tour was a North American concert tour co-headlined by American rock bands Hole and Marilyn Manson. Launched in support of each band's respective third full-length studio LPs, 1998's ''Celebrity Skin'' and ''Mechanical A ...

, 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'' 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 Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

Pizzicato Five Pizzicato Five (formerly typeset as Pizzicato V and sometimes abbreviated to P5)Yang Jeff, Dina Can, Terry Hong, (1997) ''Eastern Standard Time'' pg 277 New York: Mariner Books was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1979 by multi-instrume ...

."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 LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

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 just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

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 expande ...

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

Anna Waronker Anna Jeanette Waronker (born July 10, 1972) is a 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 drumme ...

(of

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

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

7-inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

), 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 Maxwell's, last known as Maxwell's Tavern, was a bar/restaurant and music club in Hoboken, New Jersey. Over several decades the venue attracted a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river. Max ...

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

, 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, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

music festival in March 2007. The band released its first album in five years, '' The Hair the TV the Baby and the Band'', 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

* "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 LGBT-themed musical groups Merge Records artists Musical groups established in 1996 Queercore groups Indie pop groups from San Francisco 1996 establishments in California