| Tokyo Police Club | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Newmarket, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Indie Rock |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Paper Bag, Memphis Industries, Saddle Creek, Dew Process |
| Website | tokyopoliceclub.com |
| Members | |
| David Monks Graham Wright Josh Hook Greg Alsop |
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Tokyo Police Club is an Indie Rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. It consists of vocalist and bassist David Monks (born December 22, 1987),[1] keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook (born May 11, 1987),[2] and drummer Greg Alsop (born March 21, 1985).[3][4]
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Tokyo Police Club formed in 2005 while playing for fun in a basement after the four had disbanded from a previous group called Suburbia. The band started to gain attention and played some small shows throughout the Toronto area. Tokyo Police Club were asked to play in the city's Pop Montreal festival,[5] and soon after they signed with Toronto label Paper Bag Records; Monks and Alsop dropped out of college to become professional musicians.[6]
Since their formation the band has appeared in numerous festivals. In 2006 they appeared at Edgefest and the inaugural Osheaga Festival; however, could not play that year due to other conflicts. In 2007, they performed at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bumbershoot, the Glastonbury Festival, and the Reading and Leeds Festival. In 2008 the band played the Roskilde Festival, the Rock am Ring-Festival, and Street Scene. In 2010, the band played at Bonnaroo, the largest outdoor music festival in the U.S. They also played at San Francisco's 2010 Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.
In the fall of 2008, the band played on the last 6 weeks of Weezer's Troublemaker Tour along with Angels and Airwaves. In the same year, they released their first album, Elephant Shell.
Their second full-length album, Champ, was released on June 8, 2010.[7]
On June 18, 2011, the video for "Wait Up (Boots of Danger)" was nominated as best indie video of the year by MuchMusic. The video was directed by Mike Juneau and Kyle McCreight, and produced by Jesse Ewles and Chris Cunningham. In 2011 the band also released 10 Days. 10 Covers. 10 Years., a project in which they recorded and releases a new cover song from one of the last 10 years, going in order from 2001 to 2010.
In addition to his work with the band, Wright also currently hosts programming on CBC Radio 3.
On December 8, 2011, they revealed the song "Beaches" at a live show. The track is rumored to be on their upcoming album, planned for a release in the summer of 2012.
On April 19, 2007, Tokyo Police Club made their first US TV performance on The Late Show with David Letterman. They played their single "Nature of the Experiment", along with a tambourine accompaniment by the CBS Orchestra. On April 22, 2008 Tokyo Police Club made their second appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, performing the lead single "Tessellate" off their debut LP Elephant Shell. On November 16, 2008 they appeared on the television show "Desperate Housewives" in the episode "City on Fire" as "Cold Splash", a band competing in a battle-of-the-bands contest. They performed "In A Cave" from their album Elephant Shell. On December 10, 2008, they played "Your English is Good" on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS. On June 28, 2010 they appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, performing the single "Wait Up (Boots of Danger)" off of their second album, "Champ". On March 27, 2011 Tokyo Police Club performed their single "Bambi" at the 40th Juno Awards in Toronto, Ontario.
The band released its debut EP, A Lesson in Crime, in 2006 on Paper Bag Records, with Smith EP arriving the following year. During a July 20, 2007 show in Omaha, Nebraska the band announced it had signed a deal earlier in the day for Saddle Creek Records to release their debut LP.[8] The band have also recorded two previously unheard songs for the Daytrotter Sessions, which are available online.[9] A single, now on their album Elephant Shell, entitled "Your English Is Good" was released on July 9, 2007.[10]
Responding to criticisms that their debut EP A Lesson in Crime is too short (16:22), Graham Wright had this to say in an interview with Ukula:
"It's very quick, quick, quick, one, two, three. Some of the songs don't have a lot of space in them and the album doesn't have a whole lot of room to breathe, but I think in the case of an EP this is a really good thing."[11]
The band released their first LP, Elephant Shell, via their new label Saddle Creek on April 22, 2008 in North America, and May 5, 2008 in the U.K. and Continental Europe via Memphis Industries.[12] It was pre-released via the US iTunes Music Store on March 25, 2008.[13]
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | CAN Alt [17] |
CAN Rock |
BEL | |||
| 2006 | "Nature of the Experiment" | – | – | – | – | A Lesson in Crime |
| 2007 | "Cheer It On" | – | – | – | – | |
| "Citizens of Tomorrow" | – | – | – | – | ||
| "Your English Is Good" | – | – | – | – | Elephant Shell | |
| 2008 | "Tessellate" | 63 | – | – | – | |
| "In a Cave" | – | – | – | – | ||
| "Graves" | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2010 | "Breakneck Speed" | – | – | – | – | Champ |
| "Wait Up (Boots of Danger)" | – | 7 | – | – | ||
| "Bambi" | – | 5 | – | 39 | ||
| 2011 | "Favourite Colour" | – | 12 | – | – | |
In November 2008, Tokyo Police Club keyboardist Graham Wright released a solo EP called The Lakes of Alberta online only, available as a free download. He has also participated in a project called "Novels" with musicians Luke Lalonde (of Born Ruffians), Will Currie (of Will Currie & The Country French), Dean Marino (of Ex~po), and Jay Sadlowski (of Jay Sad) in which these musicians wrote and recorded an entire EP in 24 hours. The CDs were not released in stores, nor on the internet, but were given out to random people or placed in random places. His debut solo album, Shirts vs Skins, was released on June 27, 2010. Greg Alsop has posted comedy sketch videos online, Drumsters and Novelty T-Shirt College.
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