This Is An Emergency

Toronto's Tokyo Police Club serve up a mix of sensitive indie laced with punchy garage rock on their debut EP, A Lesson in Crime—think Death Cab meets The Strokes. And good news for ADHD sufferers: none of the EP's songs break the three-minute mark.

Dates:
2/4-2/10 - North America
2/13-3/2 - Europe
3/6-4/27 - North America

MP3s:
Tokyo Police Club - "Cheer It On"
Tokyo Police Club - "Shoulders & Arms"

You Can Get It Fast in Armageddon

Although they don't yet have an official name, the artists presently known as The Good, The Bad and the Queen (a reference to West London), do have an official debut album coming out in January 2007. Featuring the combined genii of Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz), Simon Tong (The Verve), Paul Simonon (The Clash), and Afrobeat master Tony Allen (Africa 70), this super-supergroup also gets a helping hand on their sublime dub-pop opus from über-producer Danger Mouse. God was presumably busy that month.

Dates:
1/27/07-2/4/07 - U.K.

MP3:
The Good, The Bad and The Queen - "Herculean"

Wishful Thinking, Cut Down to Size

Do mopey teenage girls need another Joy Division/Interpol knockoff? No thanks, She Wants Revenge! But they do need Heavens—an L.A. bluesome twosome that peddles the kind of intricate layering, lush guitars, and brooding vocals that inevitably earn comparisons to the aforementioned doom rock torch-bearers. Thankfully, the duo's recently-released debut album, Patent Pending, has just enough individual edge, depth, and depressing lyrics to distinguish them as their own Masters of Gloom.

Dates:
11/8 - North Star Bar, Philadelphia
11/9 - Ottobar, Baltimore
11/10 - Stone Pony, Asbury Park
11/11 - Mercury Lounge, New York
11/12 - Middle East, Boston
11/15 - El Mocambo, Toronto
11/16 - Shelter, Detroit
11/17 - Metro, Chicago

MP3s:
Heavens - "Counting"
Heavens - "Patent Pending"
Heavens - "Another Night"