San Francisco’s Imperial Teen return from a five-year hiatus with the sweet sixties-pop of The Hair, The TV, The Baby and the Band. After making a splash in the nineties with the bubblegum pop of hit singles “You’re The One” and “Yoo Hoo” (best known for being featured in the movie Jawbreaker, with star Rose McGowan appearing in the video), Imperial Teen left Universal for Merge, but after 2002’s On and Live at Maxwell’s, the group seemingly went into retirement. But now the sunny pop and boy-girl harmonies are back, more active and varied, less psychedelic and laid-back.
The Hair is distinctly stronger at its beginning and end than in its middle. Opener “Everything” is grandly uplifting, yet still pressing, and follower “Do It Better” contains a great, explosive chorus. But the driving bass of middle piece “One Two” is simplistic and forgettable, while the subdued-but-growing “It’s Now” feels kind of two-note, just chorus and verse.
Other songs head directly into Beach Boys/Beatles-esque pop, with the added benefit of male-female vocals from the two guys & two girls band. Generally, pieces like “Fallen Idol”, “Everyone Wants To Know”, and the title track are catchy, if a bit repetitive, but “Sweet Potato” breaks out of that by veering more intently towards girl group pop/rock. And The Hair takes an interesting turn at its end, with the darker, impacting “21st Century” and the sad, flowing, Simon & Garfunkel-like folk-pop of finisher “What You Do”.
The changes wrought by the time off for Imperial Teen are subtler than just the fact that they’re not teens – and their music isn’t exactly geared towards teens, either. They’ve definitely honed their craft a bit, but more influential is their self-assuredness in who they are and what kind of sound they want. Less in need of approval, Imperial Teen is more than happy to sit at home and make music. The well-known gay musicians (including singer/guitarist Peter Bottum, of Faith No More, a lifetime ago) have been more domesticated in the past five years – Jerry Falwell must be spinning in his grave…
