What Is Not to Love

Not since the Pixies has there been a heavy pop band that is as sultry as Imperial Teen. Watch out, though--they move fast. If their first album, Seasick, was a great first date, they've jumped right into the sack on the furious, lusty What Is Not to Love. The album starts strong: "Open Season" is a rousing hello with bouncy keyboards, and "Birthday Girl"--a "beauty in a bridal gown" who "falls in love with everything"--is foreplay that quickly gets out of hand. By the time the fourth track, "Lipstick," rolls around, ex-Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum is demanding to know "Why you gotta be so proud? / I'm the one with lipstick on." by "The Beginning," Will Schwartz is not impressed that "you're fucking movie stars" because, well, he's "fucking congressmen." More developed than Seasick, the songs on Love feature everything from a trio of nuggets that clock in under three minutes to a pair of seven-minute-plus tracks (the feedback-fest "Alone in the Grass" and the--initially--softer "Hooray"). Death to the Pixies, hell--long live Imperial Teen. --Randy Silver