Imperial Teen
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Imperial Teen is a San Francisco, California based pop band started by Roddy Bottum, keyboardist of Faith No More. Imperial Teen is made up of Roddy Bottum on guitar/vocals with Lynn Perko (drummer/founder of Sister Double Happiness) primarily on drums, Jone Stebbins (previously of The Wrecks) primarily on bass, and Will Schwartz primarily on guitar/vocals. Roddy Bottum and Schwartz trade lead vocals (sometimes within the same song) with Perko and Stebbins providing backup vocals. Imperial Teen became known for their boy/girl harmonies and for all four members switching off on instruments and on vocals.
The band first gained notice with their debut album of "Seasick" (1996), which Spin magazine listed as the 4th best album of 1996 (and in the Spin magazine top 50 albums of all time) and was produced by Steve McDonald (Redd Kross). One New York Times reviewer wrote that "though every song on the album is good, the best are the ones about homosexuality ("Butch"), Kurt Cobain("You're One") and complete nonsense ("Imperial Teen")". "You're One" was the album's breakout single, receiving heavy radio play on alternative stations and for which the band also recorded a video.
Their sophomore album "What Is Not To Love" was released in 1999 and expanded the three-minute pop of "Seasick" with two songs of over six minutes in length. A Rolling Stone 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."".
They had a breakthrough hit with the single "Yoo-Hoo" off "What Is Not To Love" which appeared on the soundtrack to "Jawbreaker" starring Rose McGowan. McGowan also appeared alongside the band in the promo 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.
The band toured throughout these years, and their success led to opening several dates in 1998 for Hole, who was fronted by Courtney Love, a friend and (briefly) former Faith No More bandmate of Roddy Bottum. Imperial Teen was also slated to be the opening act for one leg of the 1999 Marilyn Manson / Hole tour, but the tour ended after only a few March dates when Hole dropped out and Marilyn Manson had to postpone dates due to an ankle injury. Imperial Teen ended up headlining a club tour instead .
Due to issues with support levels and label restructuring at Universal Records, Imperial Teen switched to Merge Records after the release of "What is Not To Love". "On" , released in 2002, was the first Merge Records release for the band and was produced by Steve McDonald (Redd Kross) and Anna Waronker (That Dog). The album version of "Ivanka" , which was originally released on the "Sweet and Touching" 45" , received radio play. Imperial Teen toured with The Breeders in 2002 in support of the album.
The band toured again in 2004 and released a live album in 2005 "Live at Maxwells". Former Hole drummer Patty Schemel has also performed with Imperial Teen as their drummer on tour.
Will Schwartz joined with Tomo Yasuda for his dance side project hey willpower. The outfit also includes dancers Erin Ruch and Justin Kelly. hey willpower released the EP "hey willpower" in 2005.
According to their Official website, Imperial Teen "are recording a new CD for release on Merge Records in fall 2007." In March 2007 they'll play two shows at South by Southwest.
[edit] Album and Single Discography
- You're One — (Vinyl 45 EP) 1996 &mdash (Waterboy, Pretty, You're One)
- Seasick — 1996
- Butch — 1996 — Various CD Singles, Promos, and 45's. Shayla may be a b-side on one of them
- Imperial Teen— (Vinyl 45 EP) (date unknown) — (Imperial Teen, Waterboy, Shayla)
- Sweet and Touching— (Vinyl 45 EP) (date unknown) — (Ivanka, Sweet and Touching)
- What is Not to Love — 1999
- On — 2002
- Live at Maxwells — 2005
[edit] Compilations
- Jawbreaker Movie Soundtrack — 1999 — ('Yoo Hoo', originally on "What is Not to Love")
- Ten Years Of Noise Pop 1993 - 2002 — 2002 — ('The Beginning', originally on "What is Not to Love")
- Merge Records Presents Survive And Advance, Volume 1 — 2002 — ('Sugar', originally on "On")
- Wig In A Box: Songs From & Inspired By Hedwig And The Angry Inch — 2003 — ('Freaks')
- Old Enough To Know Better — 2004 — ('Ivanka', originally from "On")
