Imperial Teen’s fifth release, Feel the Sound, may be the best English pop-rock album to not actually come from the UK. Organs, clapping, and vocal harmonies all salute the Union Jack of yesteryear, despite the band’s being from San Francisco and having been formed in the mid-90s.
The songs are immediately infectious. The shake and shimmy and boy-girl vocals make for a ray of sunshine. A few songs on the album dip in and out of the shadows (“Over His Head” and the sublime “Out From Inside”), but closer “Overtaken” erases any darkness.
Feel the Sound dropped 01.31.12.
Check out the Imperial Teen website.
Download “Runaway” here.
Mixtapes|Heartbreaks 