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Imperial Teen
ON
(MERGE)

Stars graphics

Opposites may attract, but maintaining a balance between opposing forces isn’t always an easy feat, especially in rock and roll. San Francisco’s Imperial Teen — Roddy Bottom (of Faith No More), Lynn Perko, Will Schwartz, and Jone Stebbins — prove they’re up to the task on their third album together. The two-girl, two-guy group have been honing their yin-yang approach, trading off instruments for different songs and blending their disparate elements. Gritty guitars mix with bubbly keyboards. Droning melodies and perky hooks coexist, finding harmony in their tension. Testosterone and estrogen collide, albeit peacefully, in a context that avoids the gender wars of a Fleetwood Mac.

The songwriting is credited to the group, and though On does reflect their intelligent sensibility when it comes to lyrics, they understand that vocals are often best used as an instrument in the mix. In other words, it’s not so much what the lyrics say as how they sound that matters. Imperial Teen’s previous semi-hit centered on the phrase "woo-hoo"; with that in mind, the band again use backing tracks that include vocal huffs, sighs, syllabic utterances, and percussive touches like handclaps. The infectious "Baby" offers lyrics without any readily apparent "meaning," and it sounds great. "Shake shake, va va voom vis à vis/Go go I do you, you do me/Take take, I’ll call you sugarfree/Slow slow, I love you, you love me" is one of the more salient quatrains. Imperial Teen remember that "Be-bop-a-lula, she’s my baby" is one of the places rock and roll got its start.

BY MARK WOODLIEF

Issue Date: May 16 - 23, 2002
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