Led by former Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum, the alternative pop band Imperial Teen emerged from San Francisco in 1994. Co-founded with drummer Lynn Perko, a veteran of Bay Area groups like the Dicks and Sister Double Happiness, the lineup was completed by former Wrecks bassist Jone Stebbings and vocalist Will Schwartz. Debuting in 1996 with the critical favorite Seasick, Imperial Teen resurfaced in early 1999 with What Is Not to Love, a minor hit due to the success of the sultry "Yoo Hoo." A tour with Hole followed, but the majority of their live shows were done on a headlining club tour. On was the next release, their first for Merge Records and another fine example of their coy boy/girl pop. A live album was also released that fall, backed by a tour. Former Hole drummer Patty Schemel took over touring duties while Lynn Perko rested. After the On tour, Imperial Teen's members took a hiatus from the band. Schwartz worked with his other project, Hey Willpower; Bottum wrote music for television shows including Help Me Help You; Stebbings pursued a career as a hairstylist, and Perko had a baby. When Imperial Teen finally reconvened, their reasons for what took them so long to reunite provided the title for their 2007 album The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band. Another five years were to pass before the band resurfaced with their fifth album, Feel the Sound, in early 2012.

The fifth album by Imperial Teen, Feel the Sound, succeeds completely at its goal, plainly stated in the collection’s title. Like the sharpest pop music, Feel the Sound gets you to keep coming back for more, but unlike so much music today, it rewards you for doing so, giving you the experience of a fulfilled and yet still yearning, lively potential, one that will be further realized when the songs are performed live. From the exhilarating, propulsive “Runaway,” which features the entire band on lead vocals (how many other groups can make that claim?), to the expansive final statement of “Overtaken,” Roddy Bottum, Lynn Perko Truell, Will Schwartz, and Jone Stebbins feel the sound themselves and, in turn, make the listener feel it in ways immediate and pleasurable but also lasting and haunting.

ELO-like symphonic pop has become a touchstone for everyone from Justice to Cut Copy in recent years, but Feel the Sound makes it manifest through live instrumentation that possesses a Krautrock level of intuitive synchronicity and a desert island jukebox’s sense of fun. So many bands lose momentum and focus over time, but a little past its sweet sixteenth year of existence, Imperial Teen somehow grows both younger and wiser, connecting four characterful lives through creative friendship and deep trust, and forging a communal power that continues to grow stronger. Feel the sound of a one-of-a-kind group that’s never sounded more like itself.