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 and mixing skills of Tiny Telephone's Ian Pellicci (Deerhoof, 31 Knotts) and Cloud City Sound, Portland's Justin Phelps (The Mars Volta, Dresden Dolls, The Mother Hips, Chris Isaak, Cake).
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
Tokyo Raid has released their newest EP "the Fear of Sleeping" on the newly minted Dancing Leper label, with the first single “Indulgence” available on Rock Band Network for Rock Band 3. The band is currently on tour to support the new single. It is available now on iTunes, CD Baby, Facebook and directly from the band.
