Imperial Teen Recorded “Overdrive” in One Take Before Someone Had to Catch a Ferry

Imperial Teen records arrive roughly every five to six years, and each one sounds like the band picked up exactly where they left off without a moment of rust. All Over You is their seventh, due October 9 on Merge Records, and it was built the way they always build them: writing retreats with all four members in the same room, scattered recording sessions across big lapses of time, and the occasional moment of pure spontaneous magic. “Overdrive,” the lead single, was one of those. Written during a late-session burst in Provincetown and captured in a single final take just before Will Schwartz had to catch a ferry, it has the urgency and wit that has defined Imperial Teen since Seasick, plus a sly Sex Pistols nod that earns its keep.

Roddy Bottum, Schwartz, Jone Stebbins, and Lynn Truell still live in different cities, which makes their periodic convergences all the more potent. The record draws from bubblegum pop, boy/girl harmonies, electro beats, grungy distortion, and power-pop anthems, with kiss-off lyricism tying it all together. Lyrically it spans desire, disconnection, and the realities of making art under capitalism, and it never loses the plot. “We want to make people dance and think and feel at the same time,” Schwartz says. They have been doing exactly that for three decades.

Imperial Teen’s first tour since 2020 kicks off with two sold-out nights at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre with The Breeders in August, followed by a coast-to-coast headline run in October and November. Pre-order below.

Pre-order All Over You ↗

1“Overdrive”

2“Hands All Up”

3“All Over You”

4“A Single Chair”

5“Get You Home”

6“On the Island”

7“Kiss It Goodbye”

8“Probably So”

9“Have a Shout”

10“Bringing It Down”