Animal Kingdom is a British

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

trio comprising Richard Sauberlich on vocals, guitar, and piano, Hamish Crombie on bass, and Geoff Lea on drums. They previously went by the name of The Sofa Club prior to renaming. They have released two studio albums; ''Signs and Wonders'' in 2009, and ''The Looking Away'' on 8 May 2012.

History

''Signs and Wonders'' (2009–2010)

Their debut album ''Signs and Wonders'' was recorded by Phil Ek (

Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes is an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Casey Wescott (keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals), Ch ...

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) in

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and released in 2009. The first single "Tin Man" was

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

"Single of the Week" and iTunes named them Best New Alternative Act. Support tours with

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson, ...

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and

Silversun Pickups Silversun Pickups is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles that was formed in 2000. The band is composed of Brian Aubert, Nikki Monninger, Christopher Guanlao, and Joe Lester. The band released their debut EP, '' Pikul'', in July 2 ...

followed, as well as numerous festival appearances in the UK and Europe. Songs taken from the album were featured in various films and TV shows including '' Never Let Me Go'' (starring

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) and

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's ''

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''. "Mephistopheles" appears in the 2012 UK film ''

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''. The album was praised by critics. ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' described it as "Achingly beautiful celestial indie…Will have Sigur Ros quivering with envy." and '' The Fly'' magazine felt "...Their debut swells with spiritually melancholic masterpieces." Particular praise was given to the single "Chalk Stars". XFM's Jon Kennedy named "Chalk Stars" his "Song of the Year" and

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called "Chalk Stars" "...a stunning piece of music".

''The Looking Away'' (2011–present)

The band wrote and rehearsed for the album in an old church in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

. They completed their second album with

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producer

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and signed to BoomBox Records in the US. The first single to be taken from ''The Looking Away'' was "Strange Attractor". The video on YouTube amassed over half a million views, with the song becoming the 8th most played on US alternative radio in 2012. ''The Looking Away'' was released on 8 May 2012 and the band followed its release by performing sold-out shows in New York, San Francisco and at the legendary Troubador club in Los Angeles, as well as appearing at Outside Lands festival and opening Lollapalooza. Their song, "Get Away With it" is featured in the soundtrack of the

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

game, '' FIFA 13'', as well as '' Sleeping Dogs'' under the title, “Golden Pyramids”.

Band members

* Richard Sauberlich -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* Hamish Crombie - bass * Geoff Lea -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

* "Chalk Stars" (2009) * "Tin Man" (2009) * "Two by Two" (2010) * "Signs and Wonders" (2010) * "Strange Attractor" (31 January 2012) #29 ''Billboard''

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

* "Strange Attractor" (3D M4n Remix) (2012) * "Strange Attractor" (

Dzeko & Torres Dzeko & Torres was a Canadian production and DJ duo based in Toronto, Ontario. Their style was a combination of progressive house and electro, with influences from Avicii, Lazy Rich, Umek, and Alesso. History 2007 - 2010 Luis Torres and Juli ...

Remix) (2012)

References

External links

Official website

Official Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Animal Kingdom (Band) British indie rock groups Musical groups from London English alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 2008 Warner Music Group artists 2008 establishments in England Mom + Pop Music artists