Thursday night at the sold-out 9:30 Club in Washington was laid out like a three course meal at a fancy restaurant. First up was Springfield, Missouri band Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, whose name has be one of the strangest yet oddly memorable ones ever invented. Their music has a jaunty, peppy vibe and a perfect appetizer to start off the evening. Classic guitar riffs, bouncy melodies, really engaging instrumentation – all you really need or ever want in a good indie pop/rock band, really. (I’ve never understood the appeal of the Morning Benders; Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is definitely more my thing.) A great example: “Sink/Let It Sway,” which like its name suggests, makes bodies in a crowd sway.
I always find it really cool when band members play musical chairs, and this happened with this band, as the original lead singer switched off with the drummer, who took over bass, while the bass player took over lead vocal and guitar duties. The result: a decidedly harder rock song, so hard that the guy drumming lost a stick in the first few seconds of hitting the skins. Hardcore. Other highlights of their opening set were “All Hail Dracula!” (appropriate for the “Twilight” fans, perhaps?) and the wistful “Pangea.”
Following some crazy techno pumping up the crowd and overexcited Two Door Cinema Club fans chanting “ah-oh-ah-ah-oh” off key, it was time for the first of the two co-headliners. A blinding light show ushered in the Northern Ireland band, but I can forgive them because they were on point their entire set. It was like enjoying the best Indian curry of your life – exciting, sweat-inducing, full of life, like you never wanted the experience to end. Second song in, at the start of “Undercover Martyn,” lead guitarist Sam Halliday flashed a broad smile at us in response to the “we love you Sam!” shouting and I knew it was going to be one stellar show. Earlier that day, lead singer/guitarist Alex Trimble visited one of the Nation’s Capital’s many fine pawn shops and scored a used yet gorgeous Fender for his guitar collection. After introducing the lone brand new song on this tour, “Handshake,” he thanked the 9:30 audience for being part of the first gig of what is sure to be an exciting musical history for his new baby. The new song didn’t disappoint, with its handclaps and intricate guitar lines.
It’s hard to believe that the band admitted to radio personality Tara O. in Ottawa last week that when the band co-headlined with Kitsune labelmates Delphic on a tour of the UK in late 2009, they felt unprepared and under rehearsed compared to the more experienced electronic band from Manchester. The days of Two Door Cinema Club feeling tentative are long gone. Songs like the forthcoming single “What You Know” and the perennial favorite “I Can Talk” resulted in widespread pogo-ing and a sea of arms in the air. Kev Baird‘s relentless bass line in “Come Back Home” proves Two Door does indeed rock out hard, and their sound has definitely won over Washington. The band were quick to show their appreciation for the adulation being given to them, with Baird saying at one point, “my friend told me this is the best venue to play at in the United States. And he was right!” Bring on album #2, guys.
Two Door Cinema Club Set List:
Cigarettes in the Theatre
Undercover Martyn
Hands Off My Cash, Monty
Do You Want It All?
Something Good Can Work
Handshake (new song)
Kids
You’re Not Stubborn
Costume Party
What You Know
Eat That Up, It’s Good for You
Come Back Home
I Can Talk
If Two Door Cinema Club was the entree, then Tokyo Police Club was the cooling dessert at the end of the meal, punctuated with hot fudge and a cherry on top. Funnily enough, one of the more memorable moments that can be attributed to the Canadian band happened before they even stepped foot onstage. I guess Tokyo Police Club are big Tom Jones fans, judging by the incidental music played before their set. “What’s New Pussycat” played on repeat at least four times, and I overheard one person behind me complain to his gigging buddy, “I seriously want to die.” As if someone was listening, “It’s Not Unusual” came out over the PA and everyone around me started singing along in approval.
The crowd reaction for Tokyo Police Club, at least in the beginning, seemed completely the opposite of the one for Two Door. Instead of responding physically, Tokyo’s fans seemed rapt with attention for lead singer/bassist Dave Monks, singing along to their idol. Overall, a much chiller vibe seemed to settle over the crowd. Later on though, “Wait Up (Boots of Danger)” and “Breakneck Speed,” both from last year’s release Champ, went down a treat and upped the energy level back up again. But what was the pièce de résistance? The bands joining forces to do an unexpected encore of the Strokes‘ “Last Nite.” Doesn’t really get better than this on a cold winter’s night in DC, I can assure you.
Tour Dates:
Jan 22 – Trocadero / Philadelphia^&*
Jan 23 – Newport Music Hall / Columbus^&*
Jan 25 – Masquerade / Atlanta^&*
Jan 26 – Crowbar / Tampa^&*
Jan 27 – Social / Orlando^&
Jan 28 – Culture Room / Ft. Lauderdale&*
Jan 29 – Jack Rabbit’s / Jacksonville&*
Jan 31 – Spanish Moon / Baton Rouge&*
Feb 01 – Granada Theater / Dallas&*
Feb 02 – La Zona Rosa / Austin&*
Feb 03 – Warehouse Live / Houston&*
Feb 05 – Exit-In / Nashville&*
Feb 07 – Blue Note / Columbia, MO&*
Feb 10 – Mad Hatter / Covington, KY&*
^with Two Door Cinema Club
& with Tokyo Police Club
*with support from Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Bangor, Northern Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club have just released a new promo video for their forthcoming single, “What You Know,” taken from their debut album Tourist History that was released last spring on Glassnote Records here in America.
The video, filmed by Lope Serrano of the famed Spanish production company CANADA, features dancers dancing perfectly in time to the song’s frenetic rhythm. As ever, the lads are snappily dressed. Two Door Cinema Club is currently in the middle of a 2-week, co-headlining tour with Canadians Tokyo Police Club, dates below.
Tour Dates:
Jan 16 – Club Soda / Montreal^
Jan 17 – Met Cafe / Providence^*
Jan 19 – Paradise / Boston^*
Jan 20 – 9:30 Club / Washington, DC^*
Jan 21 – Terminal 5 / New York City^*
Jan 22 – Trocadero / Philadelphia^*
Jan 25 – Masquerade / Atlanta^*
Jan 26 – Crowbar / Tampa^*
Jan 27 – Social / Orlando^*
^with co-headliner Tokyo Police Club
*with support from Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
I knew that Two Door Cinema Club‘s May appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, a major American late-night television show on a major television network, was really going to help them break in America. What I didn’t expect was how far across the globe they actually were going to break: after playing festival dates all over the world this summer, the Northern Irish trio have over 193,000 fans on Facebook, and many of the dates on their current tour of North America this fall have sold out quickly. So it makes sense that after the initial release of their debut album Tourist History on Glassnote Records here in the U.S. on April 27 that they would release a deluxe, 2-CD version of the debut with some special features.
Disc #1 is identical to the original debut release, but for those of you who are not familiar with the album, here’s my review. A very interesting note: the tracklisting of the UK version of the album differs slightly from the American version, as the song “Undercover Martyn” appears as track 3 on the American pressing, and “Do You Want It All?” and all other tracks move forward in sequence. When I asked guitarist Sam Halliday about the change in track order, he said that it had been recommended to them that they move the more upbeat “Undercover Martyn” further up in the American tracklisting for a more immediate reaction. If you want, move the songs around on your mp3 playlist and see if it makes a difference in your personal listening experience of the band. For myself, I’m used to hearing “Undercover Martyn” as the closer in the one-two-three punch directly following “Something Good Can Work” and “I Can Talk,” so I prefer the UK tracklisting.
But let’s look at the CD as a whole. In general, Two Door Cinema Club songs have a good formula that works well every time. I’m not criticizing them or suggesting what they’ve done is simple; on the contrary, they know what each band member’s strengths are and use these strengths to build songs in the very best way they can. Red-headed lead singer/guitaristAlex Trimble has a voice that can be as gorgeously gentle: for evidence, see the softer bits of “Undercover Martyn”: “she spoke words that would melt in your hand / and she spoke words of wisdom.” I practically died the first time I heard that song. Skeptical? Watch the acoustic version of this song they did for ITN Music in January 2010 below.
But at the same time, he can also deliver sharp lyrics quickly , like the start of “I Can Talk”: “you won’t believe what I tell you / white clothes and clever minds will choose / you get a lot from this / loose tongue and arrogance / it’s not appropriate / don’t think that this is it.” My first impression of this lyric: it’s a slap in the face, in a good way. It makes you stand up and take notice. This is definitely not some frou-frou pop band. This is a band that writes songs with bite.
While you are probably most familiar with “Something Good Can Work” (played as background music on a Good Morning America photo montage) and “I Can Talk” (featured on the FIFA 11 soccer video game), there are some great non-single gems in Tourist History. “What You Know” begins with guitar chords, then beats come in, followed by Kev Baird‘s bass and Halliday’s incredibly melodic guitar, as if it’s another voice in the mix. Hands down it’s my favorite on the album. The bass is the star of “Come Back Home,” propelling the song along with Trimble’s expansive vocals. If you’re looking to fall in love, look no further than “Cigarettes in the Theatre.” If you want a bouncy number with less threatening lyrics than “I Can Talk,” go for “Eat That Up, It’s Good for You.” The only two songs that are not as engaging as the rest are “Do You Want It All?” and “This is the Life,” which break down a bit in the lyrics department. Thankfully, the guitars save the day.
Then we come to disc #2. It begins with the new track “Kids”, a song the band previewed when I saw them in Philadelphia in May. It’s classic Two Door Cinema Club: there are Trimble’s gentle vocal verses, then a fun, singalong chorus with Baird’s thudding bass and Halliday’s noodling guitar enjoying the spotlight during the instrumental bridge. It’s not as frenetic as “I Can Talk” but it’s a keeper. The rest of the disc are remixes, the most interesting one at the lucky number 7 position. This summer the band offered up the stems to “What You Know” and asked fans to submit their remixes of the song. The winning remix, as chosen by the band themselves, was by Sydney DJ and as described on a poster on his MySpace “fuuuuuuunky fresh Zulu synth warrior ” Cassian. As promised by the band, the remix was included on this deluxe edition. With the cowbell, it actually sounds like something that might have come out of the Friendly Fires studio.
The other remixes come from luminaries that you may not have heard of but you soon will. Manchester-based Everything Everything, a band who has turned everyone’s heads with their debut album Man Alive in August, remixes “Undercover Martyn.” “Come Back Home” is remixed by London’s Is Tropical, a band whose star is rising on the radio play of their forthcoming single “North Pacific” to be released in the UK in late November. The trio were recently signed to Kitsune Maison, the same French dance label that first discovered Two Door Cinema Club as well. Of all the remixes, probably the most fun is the Brazilian electronica duo the Twelves‘s take on “Something Good Can Work.” It’s what you would imagine Two Door Cinema Club would have sounded like if they had been making music during the disco era. In short, Tourist History is such a fun record, and the remixes just up the fun factor. Well done boys. We’re ready and waiting for your second album.
The deluxe edition of Tourist History, including a link to a special documentary, is available now. Two Door Cinema Club is currently on a tour of North America, ending on November 7 in Eugene, Oregon.
Tour Dates
Nov 02 – Music Box / Los Angeles
Nov 03 – Belly Up Tavern / Solana Beach
Nov 04 – Slim’s / San Francisco
Nov 05 – Hawthorne Theatre / Portland
Nov 06 – Neumo’s / Seattle
Nov 07 – EMU Ballroom / Eugene, OR
CD 1 Tracklisting
01. Cigarettes in the Theatre
02. Come Back Home
03. Do You Want It All?
04. This is The Life
05. Something Good Can Work
06. I Can Talk
07. Undercover Martyn
08. What You Know
09. Eat That Up, It’s Good for You
10. You’re Not Stubborn
CD 2 Tracklisting
01. Kids
02. Undercover Martyn (Everything Everything Remix)
03. I Can Talk (French Horn Rebellion Remix)
04. Come Back Home (Is Tropical Remix)
05. Undercover Martyn (JupiterRemix)
06. I Can Talk (Moulinex Remix)
07. What You Know (Cassian Remix)
08. Come Back Home (Myd Remix)
09. Something Good Can Work (Ted & Francis Remix)
10. Undercover Martyn (Softwar Remix)
11. Something Good Can Work (The Twelves Remix)
Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club was pretty much universally hotly tipped by British music critics last year even before their debut album Tourist History even made it to store shelves in early March 2010. The band received further validation as a one of only of 15 acts to make it on the BBC Sound of 2010 long list. Despite accolades like these, the band have not rested on their laurels, relentlessly touring and easily gaining new fans with their brand of pop / punky hybrid rock, first across Britain and the rest of Europe. Now it appears North America has caught the Two Door bug, with many of the dates on their first-ever headlining tour of our continent selling out. High off playing a great gig the night before at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, they performed at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood last Thursday with two opening acts, Million Young andBad Veins.
Florida’s Million Young took to the stage first. Frontman Mike Diaz (guitar, programming) sings dreamy lyrics but is backed by synths and Afrobeat. They sound like what you might imagine would result if Beach House went to the islands and decided to make a record. That’s my impression anyway – other people have compared the band’s sound to South Carolinan Toro y Moi. The vocals are too new age-y for me, but I was really digging the synth and drum sections. Songs like “Mien” and “Cynthia” set early gig-goers gyrating.
I’d seen Bad Veins before, also in the second spot on the bill; they supported We Were Promised Jetpacks in DC in February. Thankfully, singer Benjamin Davis still rocks the telephonic vocals, and drummer Sebastien Schultz is still pounding out the militant beats that pair so well with Davis’ style of sometimes drawn out, sometimes disaffected and Beck-ish, and sometimes theatrical rock singing style. Their tape player, Irene, was employed to add further warmth to the music with strings and brass. Davis commented that “her” location stage right was unusual (usually the tape player is set up in the middle of the stage between them, so that Schultz can reach the play and stop buttons).
However, their set did not seem to be affected by this at all. Songs like the yearning “Gold and Warm” and the groovy “Crosseyed” and “Falling Tide” captivated the audience so much that the crowd was won over, with several fans on the floor and in the balcony shouting with much displeasure when Davis announced they only had one song left. I’m impressed by all that these two guys from Cincinnati can musically and their performance in Philadelphia was no exception. Watch this video of “The Lie” below from South by Southwest 2009, just gorgeous. Definitely check them out. Really, they should be much bigger in America than they are.
For most of the bands I like from overseas, it takes a long time for America to catch on and to ever see them on network television, so I take Two Door Cinema Club‘s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this month as an excellent sign that they’ve already been recognized in America as a good bet. (Catch one of the songs they performed for Kimmel below.) When it came time for Two Door’s set on Thursday, there were several teasing moments where the lights went down and went back up again as guitars and gear were checked and re-checked. This gave ample time for latecomers to fill in on both floors when the band finally took the stage, beginning with the engaging love song “Cigarettes in the Theatre,” which I imagine will be their trademark set starter for the foreseeable future.
Listening to a record in the comfort of your bedroom or car is different than seeing that band live, and this can’t be stressed enough in the case of Two Door Cinema Club. Watch for the frenetically played, flying guitars being played by the principal members, bassistKev Baird, lead guitaristSam Halliday, and lead singer / guitarist Alex Trimble. Drumsticks also fly courtesy of Brighton, England touring drummerBen Thompson, personally chosen by the band in October to replace the Mac programming employed on their recordings. This is just fun, fast-paced guitar pop with good lyrics. Watching gig-goers go into near trances over the great music made me smile.
The surprises of the evening were the playing of two little-known b-sides, “Hands Off My Cash, Monty” (introduced by Baird with the warning, “you won’t know this one, unless you are a super fan or something“) and “Kids,” which wasn’t the MGMT cover some of us at the front had guessed jokingly when the set lists were first laid out on the stage floor. Both of these sound great live and in truth, either of them would have felt right at home on Tourist History. The crowd enthusiastically clapped in time to the bridge of “Costume Party,” leading me to believe that many of them had already gotten their free mp3 of the song from joining the band’s mailing list.
But if I were to pick the highlights of the night, hands down they would be the songs from the encore. The printed set list did not indicate there would be one, but a big fan at the front commented loudly to the rest of us, “They have to come back. They haven’t played ‘I Can Talk’ yet!” Wise words. After the audience’s insistent chant of “one more song!” the band returned to play “Come Back Home” followed by “I Can Talk.” By then, these lads from Bangorhad the Philly crowd eating out of their hand. World domination is next.
Two Door Cinema Club Set List
Cigarettes in the Theatre
Undercover Martyn
Hands Off My Cash, Monty
Do You Want It All
Something Good Can Work
This is the Life
Kids
Costume Party
You’re Not Stubborn
What You Know
Eat That Up, It’s Good for You
//
Come Back Home
I Can Talk
I recently had a chat with guitarist Sam Halliday of up-and-coming Irish indie rock/pop band Two Door Cinema Club. The band was in New York City to do requisite press before getting ready for two shows in the city. Sam tells me about how much they enjoyed Austin (and their tasty food in large quantities) and the music festival experience, and we talk about their debut album Tourist History and their promo videos. Read on.
Mary Chang, PopWreckoning: Hello Sam. So how are you guys, where are you guys at the moment? And what are you doing? Sam Halliday, Two Door Cinema Club: Yeah, we’re good. We’re presently in New York City at our hotel in Manhattan. We have a bit of promo today, then we have a show in Brooklyn tomorrow and at the Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday. MC: So how are you enjoying New York? Is it your first time there? SH: No, it’s my third time. But the other guys [guitarist/lead singer Alex Trimble and bassist Kev Baird], it’s their first time. We arrived at about 2 a.m… MC: Oh wow…! SH: Yeah, and we went straight out to, sort of, go see Times Square. They’d never been here before so… MC: Excellent. So I guess you’re the globetrotter of the group then? SH: Yes, I guess, yeah! (laughs)
MC: So let’s talk about your debut album, Tourist History. I’ve been playing it a lot since it came out. It’s really fantastic. If you had to explain what you sounded like to an American who’d never hear any of your songs, how would you describe it? SH: Um, I think it’s not quite rock music; it’s not quite indie music; it’s not quite electro music. I think if you’re open to any type of music I think you might like it. It’s very accessible. You know, it’s a lot of upbeat [sound]. And you know, I mean, we love it, we think it’s a great album. We think it’s for everybody. We loved bands likeDeath Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse and Bloc Party; they’re kind of the bands that we agreed on early. We love all types of music but those were the bands we bond over most.
MC: So your name…back in February I sat in on an interactive chat with the Gigwise folks the three of you did in London… SH: Yes! MC: …during which you replied to an English fan that it came from the Tudor Cinema near where you lived in Ireland. SH: Yes… MC: I’m sure everyone’s asking you about the band name on this tour and where it comes from. (Sam laughs) Have you been back since to tell the proprietor of the Tudor Cinema that his theatre is now famous? SH: We went back [to Ireland] before we kinda became a bit big, we went back and recorded like a music video, for “Something Good Can Work.” This was a couple years ago. Just a friend did it with us recorded it over there. We moved off to doing different things and we can’t see him anymore, sadly. And then we kind of did the official one. Yeah, we haven’t been back as a band. Yeah, it would be good to go back, I think.
MC: The three of you are from Bangor, in Northern Ireland, right? SH: Yes. MC: But I’ve heard that you now call London home. SH: Ohhh…I wouldn’t personally call London home. MC: Okay, so it’s a temporary home then? SH: It’s more of a base. I call it a base. We have a band flat there. You know, it’s great because it’s easy to get flights from Heathrow [Airport] and things, it’s just very handy that way. And honestly, we have our management there, and there’s lots of press people in London. So it’s a good place to have a base. But you go home and have friends and family in Bangor. MC: What has been your family and friends’ reaction to all that’s happened to you guys so far? SH: They’re very supportive and very happy, yeah. In my experience, my mum would always be on our Facebook page and our Twitter page, paying attention and telling me before I read it what people are saying on things, read reviews. It’s very exciting [for her] I think.
MC: So it sounds like you’ve barely been able to take a breath with all the relentless touring. You’ve been around Europe and then America with Phoenix, and now are in the middle of your first headlining tour of North America. From what I hear, your shows have been going down great with the locals and you’re selling out most everywhere, so congratulations on that. SH: Thanks. MC: What’s been your most memorable show so far this year? SH: (whistles) Well, it was only last week, but I think one of the real highlights was when we played in L.A. last week. You know, the Troubadour show? It’s just crazy, because it’s kind of our first headline show of America. Having been from somewhere small and having never played here, and we’ve never come here before. It’s crazy that how well we were received! It’s just amazing, feeling like we’ve “gone” somewhere! It was cool. Other than that, since the album has been released, all the shows, you know, have kind of stepped up in attendance and it’s really been amazing, because people know more of the songs and they sing a bit more, because they enjoy the album. The [album] launches were great in Belfast, in London, and in Paris.
MC: Great. Do you have a worst moment? Or any funny tour stories you care to share? SH: Ooh…um… (laughs) oh boy…you know, everything’s been great, really. It really has. Touring with Phoenix was a great experience, they’re lovely, lovely guys. It was so great to tour with a band that was much better and more experienced. You learn so much, in terms how they act, how they play their sets. I can’t think of any stories off the top of my head…I dunno! (laughs)
MC: Before coming over to North America, how did you prepare for your first-ever shows on this side of the pond? SH: Oh, I dunno, I guess we’ve been so busy! Over the past year touring all over Europe. So we were really excited to go somewhere new. It’s always really great to go somewhere new. It’s great to go to places you’ve played before, but it’s somewhere new. It’s just real exciting. I think we’ve been playing together for long enough that we’re confident in our live show – well, I am. So we weren’t too nervous about the show, we were more excited to play to new people. MC: I think it was Fearne Cotton’s Radio1programme in February when you guys did a set and a short interview…she asked you what you were looking forward to, and this was far, far in advance of you guys coming over here. And one of you said visiting Texas. I know you guys have been to Texas now, and you were in Austin. I read on your Twitter that when you were in Austin, Kev got a tattoo and you bought a guitar…? SH: Haha, yeah, that’s right. MC: So what did you think of Texas? Did it live up to everything you thought it was going to be? SH: Yeah, it was brilliant. It’s just so different. Everywhere in America is so different between cities and states. But Texas was really cool. We got to spend a couple days in Austin in particular. Great weather, being able to sit in our dressing room, outside, in the late hours of the night. Just kind of laid-back atmosphere sort of a city. Yeah, um, obviously Kevin got a tattoo…(I laugh)…of the cat’s eyes from our album [cover]. And then we went to a pawn shop. We wanted to do a kind of typical American thing and so we would go around to pawn shops and picked around. And we went and found this amazing old guitar. I really wanted to get a guitar from this tour, to kind of have something to remember it by, so it was a great find. MC: That’s cool. SH: And we had some great Texas barbecue. MC: How does it compare to the food at home? SH: Oh, there’s a lot more of it here! MC: (laughs) That’s what most people [from outside America] tell me! SH: The portions are, very, uh, large. MC: Yeah, sometimes they last for days, usually. SH: Yeah! We actually have a competition, it’s quite sad. We have a competition, because we knew your American food was very tasty and very big. So we have a competition to see…we’ve documented each other’s weights, so we’re having a competition to see who put on the most [weight from the tour]. Whoever puts on the most has to take the person who puts on the least out to dinner. MC: Oh, okay. SH: I know, not very rock ‘n’ roll. (both laugh)
MC: So I’ve had a look at your very busy summer schedule. You’ve confirmed festival appearances at Glasto[nbury] (England), Hove (Norway), Benicassim (Spain), Summersonic (Japan), and Reading/Leeds (England) among many others. You played Glastonbury for the first time last year…what are your feelings on the summer festival circuit? SH: Ah, they’re so much fun, it’s kind of great, because you see so many bands. Like, being on tour all the time, you don’t get to see that many, unless you they ask you to tour with them. But being at festivals is amazing because…especially at Glastonbury, we’re spending the whole weekend there, so we’ll get to see loads of bands, which will be cool. We’re real excited to be doing all the European ones this year, and Australia and Japan, because you know, last year we only did one outside the UK. It was amazing, it was our favorite last year. It’s called Riga in Latvia. It’s a totally different kind of vibe than the European ones. So it’ll be great to experience all those.
MC: So you have signed to the French label Kitsune Maison for your European releases and Glassnote Records here in America. How did the Kitsune people find you? SH: They were trying to put another one of their parties in Paris, and they were trying to find an up-and-coming UK band to bring over. And so a promoter in France told them about us, and then whenever they listened to us, I think they liked us a lot more than they thought they would, and [they] wanted to put out our single. And then our relationship just grew from there. And then they released our single and finally our album. It’s great. It all felt really natural. MC: What is it like being Irish on a French label? Did it seem weird that a British label didn’t come to you first, or another European one? SH: I mean, yeah, maybe it sounds a little weird. But for us, being from Bangor, we weren’t really connected to the London music scene all that much. We’d only played in London a couple times before we signed the record deal, and it’s just…it’s don’t really have a connection with that sort of scene. For us, we feel apart from that, just as much as we feel part from the Paris music scene. And they seemed like the right label for us, we didn’t want to go with a major label, and they were really passionate about working with us. MC: Have you been able to hang out with the other UK bands they’ve signed like Delphic and La Roux? SH: Well, we got a chance to tour with Delphic back in October in the UK. Yeah, we really hit it off with them, they were really great guys, into the same, similar stuff. So we formed a little friendship with them. We’ve seen them a few times since, they’re fun. Can’t really think of any other people…Kitsune is really good with DJs and things, some great people have remixed our stuff through Kitsune. That sort of thing.
MC: Going back to your debut album, Tourist History, is definitely one of my fave releases of 2010 so far, I really love the album. Loads of fun, poppy, peppy, and brilliant. How long did it take to record everything and put together? SH: The one thing we do, once we write a song, we would demo it ourselves, and kind of get it to the point where it’s not the best recording, but we know where all the parts are, of what we’d want to be in the song. So we had this whole album demoed ourselves, and then it was about getting to a studio and doing it professionally, you know, getting a producer’s point of view and things, and trying different things like. So then we went to the end of June then we finished tracking by the end of July, and it took a month to mix the album. Once that was finished, we had some further mixing done with Philippe Zadr [the producer of Phoenix's albums United and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and a member of French house duo Cassius] in his studio in Paris, and for the songs that might be singles. It was great getting people’s different perspectives on our music and we respect their work, so it was amazing.
MC: Your promo videos. The “I Can Talk” video was actually the first videos of yours I ever saw. It was so frenetic, Alex’s head was coming off, clothes were flying around…whose idea was that? SH: That was a French team called Megaforce, that was from a suggestion of Kitsune’s. They came out with that. MC: It’s a real cool-looking video! SH: Yeah, it was the first proper video. And we shot it in a really crammed chateau in Paris. MC: Yeah, I was wondering about that. Because it has a very old-fashioned dollhouse kind of feeling, almost. SH: Yeah, you don’t really see a lot of it in the video.
MC: A while ago you guys released a newish video for “Something Good Can Work” [watch video here]. In this new one, you guys are at a fancy resort, the forest, the desert, an amusement park. Where did you go to film all the scenes for it? SH: We got to go to Gran Canaria [the second most populous island of the Canary Islands], and everything was shot there. Yeah, they’ve got a little different kind of scenes there, they have forest, and mountains, and nice beaches and sand dunes and things. MC: Hopefully you got some vacation time in then? SH: No, unfortunately we were only there for 2 days. MC: Only 2 days? Golly. Well I hope you get to spend some time there in the future, because it looked so beautiful on screen. When I first saw it in March, I was thinking, “this is the perfect summer song.” SH: We wanted to capture that kind of sunshine, the summery feel with it.
MC: I have Steve Lamacq to thank for playing “Something Good Can Work,” a long while ago it feels like, on his 6music programme. I have my own strong opinion on the subject, but what are your thoughts on the BBC’s proposed closure of 6music? [In early March, Director General Mark Thompson of the BBC Trust announced that BBC 6music, along with the Asian Network, may be closed due to budget cuts.] SH: Oh yeah, it’s awful. I mean, especially because Radio1 is kind of being taken over by r&b and just bland pop tunes. There’s really not a lot of room for up-and-coming or not commercially appealing bands. So yeah, and especially because we got our first airplay on 6music, and without it we wouldn’t have gotten so much attention.
MC: Speaking of the UK, have you been following the general election while you have been in America? SH: Yes, we have been, just on the BBC News website. I’m not really too involved in our politics. MC: Any of you endorsing any particular political party? SH: I think this is the problem, I don’t think anyone wants to be in government. Completely. I think that’s the problem here. I dunno, I don’t really know too much about it. MC: Neither do I, but it was interesting watching everything unfold real time on the website. SH: Yeah.
SH: I’m being told I need to move on… MC: Okay, so one final question. Based on the crazy reception for your first tour of America, so when are you guys coming back here? SH: We’re going to come back in October. MC: Great. SH: Yeah, very soon. MC: Well, thank you so much Sam, I appreciate it, I know you’re very busy doing a lot of press. So enjoy New York and I will see you guys on Thursday [in Philadelphia]. SH: Brilliant, can’t wait! MC: Take care. SH: Thanks.
Two Door Cinema Club‘s debut album Tourist History is available now from Glassnote Records. The band has several more dates in North America before their first headlining tour of our continent ends May 17 in Toronto.
Tour Dates
May 11 – Bell House / Brooklyn
May 12 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
May 13 – Johnny Brenda’s / Philadelphia
May 15 – Great Scott / Boston
May 16 – Salla Rossa / Montreal
May 17 – Wrongbar / Toronto
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Concert Calendar
Nov 23, 2011
HaHa Tonka @ Recordbar, Kansas City MO
Nov 25, 2011
Thee Oh Sees @ The Granada, Lawrence KS
Thursday night at the sold-out 9:30 Club in Washington was laid out like a three course meal at a fancy restaurant. First up was Springfield, Missouri band Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, whose name has be one of the strangest yet oddly memorable ones ever invented. Their music has a jaunty, peppy vibe and a perfect appetizer to start off the evening. Classic guitar riffs, bouncy melodies, really engaging instrumentation – all you really need or ever want in a good indie pop/rock band, really. (I’ve never understood the appeal of the Morning Benders; Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is definitely more my thing.) A great example: “Sink/Let It Sway,” which like its name suggests, makes bodies in a crowd sway.
Following some crazy techno pumping up the crowd and overexcited Two Door Cinema Club fans chanting “ah-oh-ah-ah-oh” off key, it was time for the first of the two co-headliners. A blinding light show ushered in the Northern Ireland band, but I can forgive them because they were on point their entire set. It was like enjoying the best Indian curry of your life – exciting, sweat-inducing, full of life, like you never wanted the experience to end. Second song in, at the start of “Undercover Martyn,” lead guitarist Sam Halliday flashed a broad smile at us in response to the “we love you Sam!” shouting and I knew it was going to be one stellar show. Earlier that day, lead singer/guitarist Alex Trimble visited one of the Nation’s Capital’s many fine pawn shops and scored a used yet gorgeous Fender for his guitar collection. After introducing the lone brand new song on this tour, “Handshake,” he thanked the 9:30 audience for being part of the first gig of what is sure to be an exciting musical history for his new baby. The new song didn’t disappoint, with its handclaps and intricate guitar lines.
If Two Door Cinema Club was the entree, then Tokyo Police Club was the cooling dessert at the end of the meal, punctuated with hot fudge and a cherry on top. Funnily enough, one of the more memorable moments that can be attributed to the Canadian band happened before they even stepped foot onstage. I guess Tokyo Police Club are big Tom Jones fans, judging by the incidental music played before their set. “What’s New Pussycat” played on repeat at least four times, and I overheard one person behind me complain to his gigging buddy, “I seriously want to die.” As if someone was listening, “It’s Not Unusual” came out over the PA and everyone around me started singing along in approval.
I knew that Two Door Cinema Club‘s May appearance on 
MC: Before coming over to North America, how did you prepare for your first-ever shows on this side of the pond?
MC: I have 
