Imperial Teen
| Imperial Teen | |
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Imperial Teen, performing at Folsom Street Fair in 2007. Photo by Neil Motteram.
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Star 69 |
| Origin | San Francisco, California |
| Genres | Indie pop, alternative rock |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Merge |
| Associated acts | The Wrecks |
| Website | web |
| Members |
Roddy Bottum Will Schwartz Jone Stebbins Lynn Truell |
Imperial Teen is a San Francisco-based indie pop group made up of Roddy Bottum (Faith No More) primarily on guitar/vocals, Will Schwartz (also of hey willpower) primarily on guitar/vocals, Lynn Truell (née Perko formerly of Sister Double Happiness, the Dicks, and the Wrecks) primarily on drums and backing vocals, and Jone Stebbins (previously of The Wrecks) primarily on bass and backing vocals. Imperial Teen became known for their boy/girl harmonies and for all four members switching off on instruments during shows.
Imperial Teen first gained notice with their debut album, Seasick, in 1996, which was produced by Steve McDonald (Redd Kross). Spin Magazine went on to list it as the 4th 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 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; 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.
Their 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 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; 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, "Yoo Hoo" is heard briefly during Jaime Pressly's slow-motion entrance. "Yoo Hoo" was also heard at the beginnings of the Numb3rs season 4 episode "Black Swan" and the Daria season 3 episode "Daria Dance Party."
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