Native New Yorkers Robbers On High Street will release their sophomore album, Grand Animals, tomorrow on Scratchie/New Line. On the follow-up to 2005's critically-acclaimed Tree City, the boys of Robbers On High Street called in Italian film composer Daniele Luppi to produce the record—that's the same Luppi responsible for the string arrangements on Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere. And with Luppi in tow, the band pulled out all the stops this time around, using everything from jazz organs to tubas, twangy guitars to hand claps on the new record. "With the song selection, we wanted each song to be a little different from the next stylistically—we didn't want to hear the same drum beat and tempo twice," says frontman Ben Trokan. "The song structures are a little more advanced, for us anyway, [whereas on] Tree City it was mainly verse, chorus, verse, chorus." The only snag for the band? Losing their drummer Tomer Danan. "Going from a four-piece to a three-piece shortly before recording made me really busy in there," says Trokan, who stepped up to drum after Danan's departure. "But it was fun!" he adds. See first hand just how much fun when the band celebrates the album's release with a few dates on both coasts. Tour Dates For Robbers On High Street: 07/27 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom 08/07 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour 08/09 - San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord www.robbersonhighstreet.com www.myspace.com/robbersonhighstreet
