by Jake McKenzie
photo by Camilo Christen
Crowd-pleasing rock and roll doesn’t get much better than the crowd-pleasing rock and roll produced by Canadian rock duo Japandroids. With influences ranging from the palatable and pleasant Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty to the more eclectic post-punk sounds of The Replacements and Hüsker Dü, Japandroids are truly making summer rock for the modern era. While their debut album Post-Nothing made quite a splash, it was their sophomore effort Celebration Rock that really got rock fans celebrating, leading Rolling Stone to dub it one of the “Top 10 Summer Albums of All Time” (it came in at the bottom of the list, but with The Beatles and The Beach Boys there was some stiff competition.) Japandroids played over 200 shows on the heels of Celebration Rock and continue to tour with their latest release Near to the Wild Heart of Life. It’s clear this band loves a good live show, and if you plan to attend be prepared to sing.
