Newmarket, Ontario born pop rock/ indie rock band Tokyo Police Club sure know how to write an ear-worm.
You can hear a couple of songs from their new EPs “Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness on the Radio like “Not My Girl” “PCH” and their latest from part 2 of Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness “ My House,” and older hits “Hot Tonight,” “ Breakneck Speed and “Argentina.”
They will be playing those and a lot more at Studio, Sept. 30 with The Elwins and the Born Ruffians, both who the band has known when they started out.
“I don’t think there will be anything people don’t want to hear. You won’t go away wishing you heard something you didn’t. We’ll cover all of the albums,” said drummer Greg Alsop from the depth of a “bunker-like” storage unit in Chicago where he and bandmates, frontman/bassist Dave Monks, keyboardist/ guitarist Graham Wright and guitarist Josh Hook are sorting out the last minute details for a long tour including both American and Canadian dates.
They are excited to return to Lethbridge.
“I remember the last time it was really cold and we really didn’t want to leave the bus or the hotel room. So we’re just excited to tour in the fall, so we can actually get out and see some of the places we’re going,” he said.
The band members are living all over the continent pursuing creative projects outside the band.
Monks moved to New York City and put out a solo record, while Alsop moved to Los Angeles to produce records with other artists, Wright stayed in Toronto to work on a film and Hook settled in rural Ontario on a patch of land.
That meant they had to be more focused when it came time to record the two new Eps “Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness Part 1, which was released in the spring and part 2 which will be released in a week.
“We literally put the final nail in the Eps a month ago,” he said, adding it is way too early to start thinking about their next project.
“Recording an entire album seems like such a daunting task, so recording the two EPs seemed like a better idea,” he continued.
Fans have agreed.
“The response has been really good, especially live. People are singing along with ‘Not My Girl’ and ‘PCH,’” he said.
He said living so far away from his bandmates has worked out.
“ Up until 2013, we had only lived a couple of blocks away from each other. We started the band as friends. Now, we’re still a band of friends, but when we get together we all hang out with each other as friends. So it really is exciting,” he said.
He has been busy in Los Angeles working as a music producer.
“I’m working with a Newfoundland band called the Lookalikes, who we will be playing a couple of shows with and a Toronto musician Mike Scally. I’m making music with new and different people which has been really fun. Before I’d only been making music with my friends in the band,” he said.
Tokyo Police Club used Graham Wright’s film making skills for the official video for “ Not My Girl.”
“ Graham and Dave they were thinking of romantic comedies like ‘Master of No-One” and came up with the idea of two aliens breaking up and their the only two aliens on Earth,” he said.
“ Graham actual made a movie in 2013 called ‘Clean,’” he said.
He is excited to tour with old friends The Elwins and Born Ruffians.
“It’s been a few years. We went to the same high school as the Elwins they were in Grade 9 and we started playing at the same time. It’s going to be fun,” he said.
“And we’ve known Born Ruffians since 2006. We played with them at the Horseshoe in Toronto,” he said.
They are excited to play Lethbridge again.
“ We’re just excited to be in Lethbridge in the Fall,” he said.
Tickets are $30. The show begins at Studio at 9 p.m.. Sept. 30.
