Imperial Teen: What Is Not To Love

When Imperial Teen's first album, Seasick, came out in 1996, the group wasn't known for much outside of bandleader Roddy Bottum's status as Faith No More's gay keyboardist. Now that Seasick is a near-classic—despite limited instrumental prowess, the group's innate knack for pop songwriting is already the stuff of legend—Imperial Teen has a little more to live up to these days. That may have something to do with the delays that kept What Is Not To Love off the streets for more than a year after its completion: Though it's got some exceptional moments, particularly in its first third, it doesn't do much to improve on Seasick's extraordinarily high standard. Which isn't to say that it's a failure by any measure. When it hits ("Birthday Girl," "Lipstick," the single "Yoo Hoo"), it hits hard, and when it fails (the plodding ballad "Crucible" and a few others), the results are still interesting. Bottum's cryptic lyrics are as quotable and fascinating as ever ("Why you gotta be so proud / I'm the one with lipstick on," and so on), and "The Beginning" and "Seven" are buoyed by irresistible choruses of "wah-wah-wah" and "la-la-la," respectively. "Yoo Hoo," however, is perhaps the finest example of Imperial Teen's incomparable charm. At first, it seems like little more than a single hook stretched out to song form, but with multiple listens, it becomes increasingly multifaceted and compelling. What Is Not To Love lacks the consistency of its terrific predecessor, but as far as sequels go, it's a serviceable rehash.