Ogikubo Station

Ogikubo Station (Asian Man, Mixtapes) prep LP, touring with Alkaline Trio

Ogikubo Station is the duo of Mike Park (who founded Asian Man Records and played/plays in Skankin’ Pickle, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and more) and Maura Weaver of the on-hiatus band Mixtapes. They released a self-titled EP last year and now they’re set to put out their first full-length, We Can Pretend Like, on August 24 via Asian Man (pre-order). In the band’s own words, the album consists of “11 songs going back and forth with acoustic and full band arrangements. Songs that dive into the heart of love, loss, alcoholism, racism, and everyday life.”

We’re premiering “Take a Piece of All That’s Good,” along with its video, and this song makes the album seem very promising. It’s not really much like the music Mike and Maura are best known for (Mike is best known for playing in ska bands and Mixtapes are more pop punk than this), but it does fit very well alongside a handful of bands with recent Asian Man releases like Lemuria, Cayetana, Hard Girls, Joyce Manor, etc. It’s got a similar raw, humble indie-punk vibe to those bands, and as Mike and Maura said to themselves when they formed the band, “[their] voices sound really good together.” They’ve got sugar-sweet harmonies that recall classic indie pop, but the music is a bit harder-edged than that; it kinda reminds me of certain Clarity-era Jimmy Eat World songs. Check it out below.

Ogikubo Station are also opening for Alkaline Trio (whose first two albums and first two EPs were on Asian Man) during part of their upcoming tour with together PANGEA. That includes the shows at NJ’s Starland Ballroom (8/16) and NYC’s Brooklyn Steel (8/17) (tickets). All dates are listed below.

Alkaline Trio / together PANGEA / Ogikubo Station — 2018 Tour Dates
Aug 03 Dallas, TX – The Bomb Factory
Aug 04 Austin, TX – Emo’s Austin
Aug 06 St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
Aug 08 Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
Aug 09 Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
Aug 10 Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
Aug 11 Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
Aug 13 Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
Aug 14 Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live!
Aug 16 Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
Aug 17 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel
Aug 18 Boston, MA – House of Blues
Aug 19 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
Aug 21 Norfolk, VA – The NorVA
Aug 22 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
Aug 24 Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works
Aug 25 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade – Heaven
Aug 26 Orlando, FL – House of Blues