Imperial Teen are guest editors of the day at Magnet Magazine. Check out the stories from Jone, Will, Roddy & Lynn.
Will Schwartz answers some Q&A about the new album in an exclusive interview with Magnet Magazine.
Click here to read the full interview with Will.
Since the start of 2012 I’ve been fighting the urge to leave the city for a few days, and today I’m caving and doing it. My on-the-road soundtrack comes courtesy of these San Francisco indie pop masters, who will release their fifth album at the end of the month. The first single, the unabashedly sunshine-y track “Runaway,” is perfect for blasting from your car windows while you hightail it out of town. Oh, and because they’ve printed the lyrics along with a sneak preview of the track (genius move), there’s really no excuse not to sing along. –LIZA DARWIN
Feel the Sound is Imperial Teen’s first new album in five years, but you wouldn’t know it from the sterling collection of beautifully arranged, melody-rich pop songs on display. The San Francisco-based band led by former Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum shows no signs of rust on its fifth studio album, which we’ve got streaming for you in its entirety.
Click here to read the full story at SPIN, and get a first listen of “Feel The Sound”
Click here to listen to the World Premiere of “Out From Inside” on NPR Music’s “All Things Considered” 2012 New Music Preview.
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.
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.
Listen to “Runaway” from Feel the Sound now!
Pre-order Feel the Sound now on CD or LP in the Merge store and receive a poster and a limited-edition key-chain earplug case while supplies last.
Track listing:
1. Runaway
2. No Matter What You Say
3. Last to Know
4. Over His Head
5. Hanging About
6. All the Same
7. Don’t Know How You Do It
8. Out From Inside
9. The Hibernates
10. It’s You
11. Overtaken