It’s been just a hair over 30 years since Imperial Teen released their debut album, Seasick. Much has changed for the band in the intervening decades—the four members no longer all live in San Francisco, and the powerhouse indie label Merge now releases their albums instead of Slash (as has been the case since 2002), just for starters—while the world has undergone even more drastic transformations. Yet, hearing “Overdrive,” the opening track of new album All Over You, a purring come-on full of lusty imagery and provocative propositions delivered by guitarist/keyboardist Will Schwartz on the verses and bassist Jone Stebbins on the chorus, you’d think the first dot-com bubble had yet to burst, the compact disc was still the primary medium, and Ellen Morgan, played by Ellen DeGeneres, was still lamenting her lack of a boyfriend on a network sitcom. 

It’s an impressive feat considering that Imperial Teen weren’t exactly kids when they started. Keyboardist/guitarist Roddy Bottum hit the big time with Faith No More at the very dawn of the ’90s, while drummer Lynn Truell played in SF proto-grunge outfit Sister Double Happiness. That Imperial Teen can still persuasively kick out horny anthems like “Overdrive” and deliver saucy lyrics like “Cut it in half, eat around the core,” without a hint of what the kids call “cringe” should be regarded as a victory for ’90s rock survivors and Gen X as a whole. The idea of a rock band consisting of two unabashedly gay men and two women feels much less subversive now than it did in ’96, but Imperial Teen doesn’t sound any less hot to trot.

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The quartet successfully revisits (slightly) more innocent modes as well: The title track revolves around a vintage two-chord garage riff, a chintzy keyboard pulse, and rough but ready boy-girl harmonies. Its Go Go’s grit and bobby sox bounce recall “Baby” from 2002’s On, but the lyrics slyly reference another track, “Sugar,” from the same album: “Half the sugar / half the fun / Back-to-back and second-to-none,” Schwartz sings, combining cultural criticism with cocky assertions and just a hint of lasciviousness. Imperial Teen clearly isn’t ready to deny themselves—or us—anything sweet just because wellness influencers say it’s bad for you. 

It’s not all sex and candy, though. “Kiss It Goodbye,” a slinky groover that evokes a more salt-of-the-earth Stereolab, grapples with a volatile on again/off again relationship, while the slick electro beat and breathy, strobe-light hustle of “A Single Chair” accompany a common complaint in the age of algorithmically generated content: “It shouldn’t be so hard / to sell a piece of art.” 

“Hands All Up,” another assertive garage-pop rave-up, also deals with professional struggles, briefly acknowledging the realities of being an over-the-hill band before Truell vigorously declares a return to the immediacy of youth: “Don’t take too long / just write the song!” It may take five-plus years for Imperial Teen to make new albums (their most recent one arrived in 2019), but as Truell sings in “Hands All Up,” “Yeah, we’re right on time.”

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