MOG

If you should know anything about me (the music lover and pundit), it’s that I hate when a really good band falls through the cracks. Since MOG is designed to encourage proselytizing about one’s favorite musicians/albums/tunes, this is the perfect time and place to wax ecstatic about Imperial Teen’s new album.

The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band is the San Francisco ensemble's fourth and their first since 2002, and I like it, like it, yes I do. What have they been doing in the past five years? Don't know. All I do know is that this fiendishly clever and catchy recording is a welcome blast of post-punk pop-rock from the qool quartet, which includes singer/guitarist/keyboardist Roddy Bottum (ex-member of crafty alt-rock unit Faith No More); singer/guitarist Will Schwartz (of the dance music duo known as hey willpower); drummer/singer Lynn Truell (formerly with art-punkers Sister Double Happiness); and bassist/singer Joan Stebbins (who graduated from The Wrecks).

They’ve never been a big deal. Never had a gigantor hit, unless you count the alternative- and college-radio fave “Yoo Hoo.” Never been the buzz band of the moment. They’ve just recorded some exciting, engaging albums and played a bunch of jubilant, entertaining shows. Now, we’ve got The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band. Its dozen songs are melodious, whether the tone is sweet or sour, and boast brainy lyrics suffused with wry humor. You can hear a maturity and hard-earned wisdom in the material created by four way-past-teenagers who are older than they were when they started I.T. and have not become too weary or jaded to rock. To quote the title of their second album, “What is not to love?”

As you might expect, there are influences aplenty, and a lot of stuff that's audio catnip to a cat like me: '60s French pop; glam-rock; spunky new-wave; the Velvet Underground’s dark, urban cabaret side; and more than a hint of Sleater-Kinney’s proto-riot-grrl sound. In fact, there’s so much tossed into Imperial Teen’s sonic blender - a snatch of ELO’s orchestrated pomp, the gentle harmonies of an L.A. folk-rock band from the early ‘70s, the growly rock-guitar edge of a Pixies song, etc. – that the end result is some heady, yet unclassifiable nectar.

"Everything" - the rousing, cheekily-titled opening track that espouses a crazy litany of beloved items - crosses the Go-Go’s and their buoyant take on early-‘60s girl-group pop with the literate, cut-and-paste quirkiness of Brian Eno’s early solo albums. Next comes "Do It Better," which starts off like something you'd hear at a Paris discotheque in '68 (very yé-yé), but punches into the here-and-now with chunky, driving guitar chords on the chorus. Even tougher is "Shim-Sham," slamming like the Breeders’ “Cannonball.” That Velvet Underground vibe surfaces on "Baby and the Band," a whimsical, up-tempo track that offers a sweeter vocal then Lou Reed or Nico could manage. "One Two" is like a careening ride in a tricked-out Bratmobile. Girlish back-up harmonies wash through the mid-tempo rock beat of "Room with a View" like the cool, clean surge of a mountain spring.

If you want dreamy, beat-heavy, and tongue-in-cheek in the same cut, "It's Now" - a charming poke at the trendy and would-be trendy – does the job. "Fallen Idol" offers a British music-hall/French chanson vibe by way of the Beatles and Kinks, only with a contemporary lyrical twist. A certain Athens, GA band wouldn’t necessarily call their lawyers over "Sweet Potato," although it’s a dance-rock gyrator with cute chanted lyrics that would fit nicely onto a B-52’s set list.

The Hair… wraps with the jagged, ambling uncertainty of "Everyone Wants to Know," spiced up by dissonant background guitars; the churn and wail of "21st Century," with its contrast of modern trivialities and portents of Armageddon; and "What You Do," a Velvet-y, syncopated, piano-based dream-rock tune with a narrator resigned to the questionable behavior of a seemingly heedless friend. ("It's a long way down with you.") Beautiful.

The wistfulness of that last number reminds me of the way I feel when a worthy band doesn’t get the audience it truly deserves. As much pleasure as I’ve derived from Imperial Teen, I’d be even happier if The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band massively expands their fan base. When it comes to this brand of Imperialism, I’m all for it.