Imperial China

"These days, the indie field is oversaturated with derivative groups trying to resuscitate a bygone era or mirror a sonic fad note for note. Rather than merely exhume the past or copy the present, Imperial China engages alternative music’s storied history as a whole on Phosphenes... The group’s determination to push certain aesthetic boundaries has resulted in a record that’s endearing and complex, aggressive yet skillfully composed." - - Washington City Papter

http://www.impchin.com/impchin_press.html - Imperial China

"Wiry rhythms and slashing squibs of squall quickly identify Washington, D.C.'s Imperial China as heir to the area's rich post-punk past." - Alternative Press

"Imperial China, a trio from DC, carry on the city's long and proud legacy of slashing, experimental post-punk that's equally brainy and ballsy. They create fierce grooves, turn on a dime, throw some weird electronic flourishes in for good measure, and shimmy about on stage like they took dancing lessons from Guy Picciotto." - Philadelphia Weekly

"Imperial China are not your average rock band. They are the Rachmaninoff of the experimental rock world. Nothing seems too difficult for them to play and the band’s level of spontaneity is humungous. The band has a method of playing and interacting with each other on a recording that is completely original and imaginative." - Absolute Punk

"[DC]-based trio Imperial China combine the abstruse sounds of many a Dead City band past (Girls Against Boys, Frodus, and Q and Not U spring to mind) for a style of confrontational art rock that’s definitively DC. But expect the band to transcend mere comparisons to likeminded acts with the release of their new album, Phosphenes. Imperial China are a stage presence to be reckoned with and, in support of their latest release, they’re planning on 'playing out more than ever' in 2010." - On Tap Magazine

"DC's Imperial China are rocking my mind with their LP Phosphenes. This isn’t an album to kick back to, drive to, or hum along to. This is an album to open up and create to. It makes me want to wildly draw or paint something as raw and beautiful as what I’m listening to—post-rock intesity mixed with experimental electronics washed away in psych. Sometimes Phosphenes expands and wraps itself around your ears with lush yet hard rock, and sometimes it travels down to a stark small basement and just vibrates. All of it kills." - Pasta Primavera

"Phosphenes is a testament to Imperial China’s distinct sound, meticulously alloying innumerable flavors of rock and pop into something both fresh and familiar... The album is a confident, well-developed debut of a unique and vibrant voice in a somewhat stagnant scene. A sign of a fertile future for both artist and label, and if we’re lucky, one of the first major volleys in a bonafide new movement." - Aural States

"Phosphenes is one of those rare albums that melds instruments and styles into a concoction that defies easy categorization and still succeeds at what it attempts. From the driving, headlong rush of 'Mortal Wombat' to the contemplative soundscape of 'Go Where Airplanes Go,' Imperial China continually hits the mark on this debut album... It’s a rare treat to come across an album so full of surprises that flow organically from one to the next." - Delusions of Adequacy

"These three dudes capture the feel and the spirit of the 'DC sound'... but rarely rehash the ideas of their predecessors... Phosphenes is one of the best records we’ve heard this year." - Buddyhead

"Imperial China retains mainstream rock's punch while incorporating elements of more experimental styles. The trio undergirds its attack with loops and other synthetic sounds, and borrows from non-Western forms, notably for the gamelan-like percussion of 'Corrupting the Integrity of the Grid'." - Washington Post