Imperial Drag

Emerging after the breakup of psychedelic pop innovators Jellyfish, Imperial Drag issued its lone self-titled album on the Work Group in 1996. The quartet comprised vocalist and guitarist Eric Dover, recently returned from fronting Slash's Snakepit, keyboardist Roger Manning, bassist Joseph Karnes, and drummer Eric Skodis. Only the absence of Andy Sturmer, Jellyfish's drummer, singer, and chief songwriter, kept the project from duplicating that band's proven chemistry. Its eccentric retro-rock sound and unapologetically ostentatious visual presentation also proved ill-suited to the flannel-clad, grunge-dominated rock public of the mid-1990s. Ultimately, style could not eclipse substance, and both the band and its record quickly vanished from view.