Pitchfork

I can't think of many experiences that would be weirder than being in a hot up-and-coming rock band with your dad. Can you imagine? There you are, backstage at Glastonbury, getting sloshed and making out with a groupie, with dad watching the whole time. Or--even worse--watching your dad get sloshed and make out with a groupie. Aren't kids supposed to rebel against their parents, not rock with them?

The English band Mystery Jets-- featuring the talents of frontman Blaine Harrison and his father, guitarist Henry Harrison-- have never exactly done things normally. They live on Eel Pie Island, which is in the middle of the Thames. They use various household items as percussion instruments. Their press bio contains this sentence: " Kai's parents lived with Blaine's parents in a commune in the Seventies ('we used to share hash cookies together', notes Henry, a former architect)." What!

So it should come as no surprise that Mystery Jets have finally gotten around to signing an American record deal, a good year or so after they first gained buzz band status in the UK. The fashionable Hollywood label Dim Mak will release the Diamonds in the Dark EP on April 10, followed by the full-length Zoo Time on May 8. The EP includes a cover of Bloc Party's "Pioneers", while the album features a significantly different tracklist from the band's UK debut album, Making Dens.

An American tour is in the works for the summer. Bring your dad. Or your son.

Diamonds in the Dark EP tracklist:

01 Diamonds in the Dark
02 Pioneers (Bloc Party cover)
03 Crosswords
04 A Private Place

Zootime LP tracklist:

01 Diamonds in the Dark
02 Inside Four Walls
03 Scarecrows in the Rain
04 The Boy Who Ran Away
05 Soluble in Air
06 Horse Drawn Cart
07 Zoo Time
08 You Can't Fool Me Dennis
09 Purple Prose
10 Little Bag of Hair
11 Umbrella Head