None of the members of Tokyo Police Club were even alive when "Rock Lobster" was released.
But just a day after the 30-year-old group the B-52s perform at the 9:30 club, this young Canadian foursome will take the stage at the Washington venue. The show is part of the headlining tour they began to promote the new album "Champ," following a supporting tour opening for the English electronic band Passion Pit.
It's a sign, if anything, of the new New Wave band's mega-fast, five-year rise to success on the back of a bunch of tracks that, at least in spirit, are not that different from Schneider and company.
"Champ," released in June, doesn't dwell on the wacky motifs the way the B-52s would, but its breezy three-minute tracks are as exuberantly plucky, even when set to a punk melody. "Not Sick" finds singer Dave Monks complaining about young love; "Favourite Color" sees him rhapsodizing about a new crush.
All in all, the band banks on radio-friendly upbeat hooks that would sound cloying if they weren't so charming.
Bassist and lead singer Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook and drummer Greg Alsop — all but one of them 23 — formed Tokyo Police Club in chilly Newmarket, Ontario, in 2005, and quickly flitted to mainstream attention.
The group started by recording an EP, "A lesson in crime," on a Canadian label and, in under two years, had finished a full-length album, "Elephant Shell," on an American one.
To promote that album, the band toured heavily, including opening for Weezer. And nine months after that tour ended in August 2009, it began working on the new album, this time for Mom + Pop Records, home to buzzy noise-pop band Sleigh Bells.
On the strength of its jaunty brand of punk, Tokyo Police Club has been a big presence on the festival circuit, performing at Coachella, Lollapalooza and, last year, San Francisco's Outside Lands.
The band has been touring since last year — when it stopped at Rams Head Live — and still has 18 more stops after its gig in Washington.
Tokyo Police Club will perform Thursday at the 9:30 club, 815 V St NW, Washington. Doors open at 7 p.m. The show is sold out.
—Erik Maza