Imperial Teen

From: San Francisco, California

Active: 1996-present

I first heard of them: when I saw some mentions in magazines that Roddy Bottum of Faith No More had put together his own band

Sound: I picked up the Seasick album in 1996, and yeah, this could hardly have been more of a departure from Faith No More while still staying under the heading of rock. Instead of abrasive, symphonically complex tracks with dramatic keyboard parts, these were bubblegum punk-pop songs that sounded like they'd been recorded on a boombox on someone's back patio on a lazy weekend afternoon.

Listening station: And yet I'm not going to post any of those songs here, because while I lost track of Imperial Teen at the turn of the century, the few songs I heard from their post-Seasick career impressed me a bit more. (Note: the "Open Season" here is a completely different song from the one that's #1 on my chart.)

			"Birthday Girl" (1998)
			"Open Season" (1998)
			"Ivanka" (2002)