Tokyo Raid
Oakland, California, United States | INDIE
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Tokyo Raid is a three-piece band from San Fransisco, California. Ben Utah sings and plays bass, Tim Kearney sings and plays guitar, and Mike Thompson plays drums. I came across the music of Tokyo Raid last summer, when I was following leads to good bands by finding out what ex-BJM members are doing (Dean Taylor was playing with Tokyo Raid predecessor The Mandarins a while back) when they leave The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Seeing Dean Taylor's name in The Mandarins, I listened to their songs, and they were some brilliant, catchy little rock songs, something I wanted more of, so I chased up the artist a bit more, finding that Mandarins main man Ben Utah had a band called Tokyo Raid. The songs playing on their MySpace player were from their EP Cleopatra. I wanted it, pronto. Did not find it, but did find their self-titled EP on iTunes. Indulgence and Source Inside, totally addictive songs with their fast, sharp drums and angular, punk-ish guitars. Dark Eyes, Battle of Seattle, and the biggest winner of that EP, Sunday Morning, a long, smooth charmer of a tune, make up Tokyo Raid's self-titled EP. Also now available from the band are a second EP titled When The Devil Calls, Tell Him To Take A Number, and 2 singles titled Let's Pretend We're Friends and 31, all worth getting, my friends. Great garage-style guitar rock, smart, energetic, and edgy. - Dirty Sexy Karma
Discography
''Pictures of Prague'' (EP) 2005
''When the Devil calls, tell him to take a number.'' (EP) 2005
"Let's Pretend We're Friends" (Single) 2006
''Cleopatra'' (EP) 2006
"31" (Single) 2007
"Tokyo Raid" (EP) 2009
"Classic Diversion/Room" (Single) 2011
"Indulgence" (Single) 2011
"The Fear of Sleeping" (EP) 2012
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Bio
Fusing the noise and unrest of the gritty ports and warehouses of the Lower Bottoms with an edgy neo-psychedelia come post punk sound, Oakland, California's Tokyo Raid is the spiritual locale where the streets of Salford and The East Bay intersect.
Formed in 2004, singer/bassist Ben Utah has mined influences ranging from T-Rex, David Bowie and The Stooges to The Jesus and Mary Chain, Joy Division, New Order and Spaceman 3 to create the band's sound which not only walks that difficult tightrope between being unique yet recognizable, it juggles and does the Watusi along the way.
While the lineup over the years has featured individuals of note such as guitarist Dean Taylor (Brian Jonestown Massacre), Dave Han (Astral/Foreign Cinema) and collaborators Cary LaScalla (Bellavista) and Kat Downs (Sit Kitty Sit), it's the latest lineup featuring guitar stylist Ty Gerhardt (The Girlfriend Experience/The New Day Breakers/Songs for Snakes) and drummer Mike Thompson (Sit Kitty Sit/Big Nasty) that's getting the buzz all along the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington for being one of the Bay Area's best "new" underground acts.
That buzz is further supported by the band's 5th EP, The Fear of Sleeping on their Dancing Leper label which features the band's production talents married with the engineering skills of Tiny Telephone's Ian Pellicci (Deerhoof, 31 Knotts) and independent engineers Mike Bottari and Laura Talon. Cloud City Sound and Portland's Justin Phelps (The Mars Volta, Dresden Dolls, The Mother Hips, Chris Isaak, Cake) mixed and master the EP.
The band is currently record a full length album with Justin Phelps at Portland's Cloud City Studios, with additional engineering with Laura Talon in San Francisco.
The SF Deli Magazine described a recent performance as:
“… an impressive set that fused the pulsing drone of Joy Division with blues-inspired psyche rock. Layered with aptly placed shrieks of feedback, Tokyo Raid bludgeoned the crowd with their wall of sound that eagerly awaited dissection." -Ada Lann, SF Deli
Festivals:
Red Gorilla Music Fest Austin, TX 2012
Thrillcall Showcase at Austin's Music Week Austin, TX 2012
4 & 20 Black Birds Festival Weed, CA 2012
DarkNet Festival Online and UK 2012
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