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Robbers on High Street were an
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rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band from
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, which formed in 2002. The band released three studio albums across their ten years together.


History

Robbers on High Street began performing publicly during the summer of 2002, but the band's roots stretch back much further. Ben Trokan and Steve "Sparky" Mercado have been friends since their preteen years growing up in the upstate New York town of
Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie ...
. Both Mercado and Trokan shared a recent familial relocation from the Bronx and Manhattan, respectively, and a love of
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
. Ten years later Trokan returned to New York City for college and through mutual friends met and began playing with drummer Tomer Danan. In Poughkeepsie, Mercado reconnected with Jeremy Phillips, an old school friend. Robbers on High Street—the name came from a lyric of one of the band's early, discarded compositions—was officially born when the four began playing together. The band was quickly signed by Scratchie/
New Line Records WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...
at the end of 2003. ''Fine Lines'', the band's debut EP was released in March 2004 and was co-produced by Peter Katis ( The National,
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
,
Mercury Rev Mercury Rev is an American indie rock band formed in 1989 in Buffalo, New York.
 Original personnel were Dressy Bessy,
Chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. Th ...
). ''Tree City'' was released in February 2005 and Phillips was replaced shortly thereafter by
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
native Morgan King. In addition to playing bass, King is proficient in brass instruments and occasionally plays them on stage. The band toured for most of 2005 with Cake,
Hot Hot Heat Hot Hot Heat is a Canadian indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, formed in 1999. The band was signed by Seattle label Sub Pop in 2001 and released its first EP, ''Knock Knock Knock'', and first full-length album, '' Make Up the Break ...
, Sloan, and
Brendan Benson Brendan Benson (born November 14, 1970) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released eight solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs. Recording career ''One Missi ...
. The album was met with strong reviews and several songs off ''Tree City'' ("Love Underground", "Big Winter", and "Japanese Girls") landed in several films, TV shows and commercials; as well as two appearances on ''The Carson Daly Show''. In the summer of 2006 the band parted ways with drummer Tomer Danan and went in the studio as a trio with Trokan taking over drumming duties to record their follow up LP, ''Grand Animals''. For this album the band connected with Italian film composer
Daniele Luppi Daniele Luppi is an Italian composer and music producer who has been active since around 1999. He is an Emmy nominated film and television composer and has worked with the likes of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gnarls Barkley, and John Legend. ...
, known mostly for his string arrangements and orchestral work with Danger Mouse (
Gnarls Barkley Gnarls Barkley are an American soul duo, composed of singer-songwriter CeeLo Green and producer Danger Mouse. They released their debut studio album, ''St. Elsewhere'', in 2006. It contained their hit single "Crazy", which peaked at number two ...
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) and pop artists like
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. The band recorded in New York and mixed with Jeff Peters (
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,
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) in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. The new collaboration allowed them to explore broader sonic landscapes-utilizing King's range of musicianship-with dynamic and varied sounding songs showcasing the bands' of obsession with 60s and 70s
AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmis ...
. ''Grand Animals'' was released on July 24, 2007 and the band (now a quintet with the addition of drummer Mikey Post ( Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens, The Jay Vons) and keyboardist David Sherman (Goodbye Girl Friday,
Grand Mal Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...
,
The Silent League The Silent League is an American post-rock, chamber pop band from Brooklyn, New York, founded by Justin Russo, formerly of Mercury Rev. Their 2004 debut, ''The Orchestra, Sadly, Has Refused'', featuring Sam from Interpol, Grasshopper from the R ...
)) did several tours with
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,
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,
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and
Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...
. Scratchie/
New Line Records WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...
folded shortly after the New Year. After an extended rest, Robbers on High Street returned to form in 2008 - playing shows (sometimes as Electric Light Orchestra), writing new songs and recording several covers -
Emitt Rhodes Emitt Lynn Rhodes (February 25, 1950 – July 19, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer. At 14 years, Rhodes began his career in musical ensembles the Palace Guard as the group's drummer before jo ...
,
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, and even
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- for various compilation releases. After purchasing a TASCAM MS-16 1" 16 track, the band entered the studio in October 2009 to begin work on their third full-length album. Produced by Trokan with engineer Matt Shane (
Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's come ...
,
Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...
), they settled in at Tommy Brenneck’s (
The Budos Band The Budos Band is an American instrumental band from Staten Island, New York, formed in 2005. AllMusic describes the group as a "doom rock Afro-soul big band with a '70s touch" that joins "musical universes from trippy psychedelia and Afro-funk to ...
,
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) Dunham Studio for mixdown. Delving deeper into their Anglophilia a la
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and the blue-eyed power of Reg King and
The Action The Action were an English band of the 1960s, formed as the Boys in August 1963, in Kentish Town, North West London. They were part of the mod subculture, and played soul music-influenced pop music. Career The band was formed as the Boys in ...
, this was the current line-up’s first proper recording session, drawing little help from the outside save that of a horn section borrowed from Daptone Records. In June 2010, the 7" single ''Electric Eye'' b/w ''Face In The Fog'', two tracks from the yet unreleased upcoming album tentatively titled ''Hey There Golden Hair'', was released on
Engine Room Recordings Engine Room Recordings is an independent record label with a roster of indie rock and alternative rock musicians. Beyond marketing and distribution for its artists, the label does booking and artist management. Engine Room Recordings is part of ...
. Some brief Northeast tours in the Summer and Fall in support followed, as well as an appearance at the 2010
CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
Music Marathon. The band became inactive some time after the release of their ''Anything Could Happen'' EP in 2012. Trokan joined
Spoon A spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily f ...
as their touring bassist in 2019, replacing
Rob Pope Robert Pope is an American musician, best known as the bassist for Spoon and The Get Up Kids. History Rob Pope grew up in Olathe, Kansas. In the summer of 1994, he was in a band called "Kingpin" with his brother Ryan and future Get Up Kids band ...
, before eventually being brought in as a full-time member of the band in 2021. In December of 2021 co-founder Steven Mercado passed away at the age of 43 in Hopewell Junction, NY


Discography


Albums

*''Tree City'' (2005,
New Line Records WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...
) *''Grand Animals'' (2007,
New Line Records WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...
) *''Hey There Golden Hair'' (2011, Rocco Grecco Records)


Singles and EPs

*''Love Underground (demo) b/w New Evil 7"'' (2003,
Scratchie Records Scratchie Records was an independent record label founded in 1995 by James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky (ex-The Smashing Pumpkins), Adam Schlesinger ( Fountains of Wayne, Ivy), Kerry Brown (ex- Catherine) and Jeremy Freeman. Initially, Scratchie was ...
) *''Fine Lines'' EP (2004,
New Line Records WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...
) * "The Fatalist and Friends" (2006,
New Line Records WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...
) *''Season's Greetings'' (Holiday song)'' (2008) *''Electric Eye b/w ''Face In The Fog'' 7" (2010,
Engine Room Recordings Engine Room Recordings is an independent record label with a roster of indie rock and alternative rock musicians. Beyond marketing and distribution for its artists, the label does booking and artist management. Engine Room Recordings is part of ...
) *''Anything Could Happen'' EP (2012)


Compilations

*''
Wedding Crashers ''Wedding Crashers'' is a 2005 American comedy film directed by David Dobkin, written by Steve Faber and Bob Fisher, starring Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Christopher Walken with Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Bradley Cooper and Jane Seymou ...
'' soundtrack (2005,
New Line Records WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...
) song: "Love Underground" *'' Just Friends soundtrack'' (2005,
New Line Records WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...
) song: "Big Winter" *''
Georgia Rule ''Georgia Rule'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall, written by Mark Andrus, and starring Jane Fonda, Lindsay Lohan, Felicity Huffman, Dermot Mulroney, Cary Elwes, and Garrett Hedlund. The original score was composed ...
'' soundtrack (2007,
New Line Records WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...
) song: "The Fatalist" *'' Guilt by Association Vol. 2'' compilation (2008,
Engine Room Recordings Engine Room Recordings is an independent record label with a roster of indie rock and alternative rock musicians. Beyond marketing and distribution for its artists, the label does booking and artist management. Engine Room Recordings is part of ...
) song: "Cool It Now" (cover) *''The Lifted Brow, No. 4: Fake Bookshelf'' book + dbl CD compilation (2009, The Lifted Brow) song: "The Duke's Dilemma" *''Buffet Libre Rewind 2'' compilation (2009) song: "Shout to the Top" (cover)


References


External links


Robbers on High Street
official website
Robbers on High Street Official Facebook pageNew Line Records
{{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups from Brooklyn