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The Daily Tar Heel

Teen Doles Out Fresh, Playful Pop; Kweller Shines on 1st Solo Album


On
Four Stars

At first listen, Imperial Teen's third album, On, comes off sounding a little like a lot of bands.

The San Francisco group and its giddy new-wave pop takes notes from many genre trailblazers -- from The Cure to The Cars to R.E.M. -- but pulls together for a sound that is sourdough-fresh and profoundly its own.

Born in 1994, the boy/girl quartet kept crowds grinning in the Bay Area while its first two albums, Seasick (1996) and What is Not to Love (1999), were quietly creeping into the collective ears of the musically well-travelled. Its single "Yoo Hoo" from What is Not to Love even happened onto the "Jawbreaker" movie soundtrack, possibly shedding some of the obscurity of the band.

On keeps the snowball rolling and Imperial Teen's happy soprano stylings blaring. Roddy Bottom (of the late Faith No More) and Will Schwartz balanced with Lynn Perko and Jone Stebbings take turns on the mic while also feverishly jumping from instrument to instrument.

The results are tracks that fluctuate from eerie to elated to deliciously light-hearted.

Disregarding a decaffeinated first track, the album splashes confidently forward with "Baby," shoveling in clean, fun pop music, complete with hand-claps. Bottom's turn on the mic revives the sound of pre-burnout, "Green" R.E.M. without the annoying bubble-gum feel.

Later, in "City Song," the band's high-registered vocals sound almost laughably akin to Canadian indie rock group Sloan. On top of that, the song keeps you moving and is more fun than those $1.50 convenience store "rubber-ball-elastic-string-paddle" sets.

Playfulness surfaces again in "Our Time." Its vocals capture the hit and wit of Freddie Mercury crossed with an intro that brings in pure, crisp, simple piano strikes --

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