What do you get when you can’t decide between “Pleasure Droids” and “Japanese Scream” as the name of your new band? You get a little bit of both. And that’s how Japandroids began. They met back in college, Brian King and David Prowse, and even though they weren’t the most enamored with one another as new band mates should be, they did share a similar passion for music and that’s what brought these two Canadians together. The plan was simple: stay focused, make music, and try to find a lead singer for the band. So they stayed focused. They recorded their very first album Post-Nothing. But they never found a third member to join them. Instead, they kicked it as a duo—an impressive feat considering just how much sound explodes from their music, as though they’re a five-guy band.
Their first world tour was a rigorous one after finding the acclaim that the band had been waiting for, and finally having the chance to implement that “go hard, play hard” dynamic that both guys believed in before they ever got signed to a label. It was a trend that continued with their second album Celebration Rock that was released in 2012, raved about by critics and exploded off the charts for its raw and electric punk energy—an energy that, when seen live, makes you want to sing along until your throat kills, drink and spill a lot of beer, and walk out of the place dripping sweat and sore, but with absolutely no regrets. And it’s obvious on the album’s first track with the lyrics: “Long lit up tonight and still drinking. Don’t we have anything to live for? Well, of course we do, but until it comes true, we’re drinking.” It’s an unapologetic DIY sound, full of grit and youth. It always has been, though, for Japandroids.
And now they’re back with the same fervor as on their previous tours, with a soon-to-be released third studio album that will premiere in January of 2017 called Near to the Wild Heart of Life.
When: February 23
Where: Terminal 5
Time: 8 p.m.
Price: $25
Tickets: Axs.com
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