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Northern Ireland's Two Door Cinema Club mix guitar-driven post-punk hooks with dancey, electronic polish. They first gained attention with 2010's Tourist History and singles like "Something Good Can Work" and "Undercover Martyn." The record hit number one on the Irish independent albums chart and landed on the BBC Sound of 2010 poll. Along the way, the band earned favorable comparisons to Phoenix and the Postal Service. They continued to evolve, landing in the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 with 2012's Beacon and experimenting with Giorgio Moroder-esque disco and synth pop on 2016's Gameshow. That album also hit the U.K. Top Ten and paved the way for 2019's new wave-inspired False Alarm and 2022's Keep On Smiling. They kept the '80s dance vibes going with their 2023 single "Sure Enough."
Hailing from Bangor and Donaghadee, Northern Ireland, Two Door Cinema Club features singer/guitarist/programmer Alex Trimble, guitarist/singer Sam Halliday, and bassist/singer Kevin Baird. Trimble and Halliday met in school, and then hooked up with Baird through mutual friends. The trio began playing as Two Door Cinema Club in 2007 and skipped going to university to focus on the band. Fortunately, the gamble paid off -- the group's debut EP, Four Words to Stand On, was released in January 2009 by the hip French label Kitsuné to positive reviews and music blog buzz, which grew with the release of April's single "Something Good Can Work."
That summer, Two Door Cinema Club recorded their debut album in London's Eastcote Studios with Eliot James, which they mixed with producer Philippe Zdar in Paris that fall. The group's remixes of Phoenix's "Lasso" and Chew Lips' "Salt Air" also appeared that year, and by the end of 2009, they were among the acts featured in the BBC Sound of 2010 poll. Another single, "Undercover Martyn," arrived in January 2010, shortly before the band's first full-length, Tourist History, was released. A number one-charting independent album in Ireland, it hit the Top 30 on the indie album charts in England, Scotland, and the United States. Certified platinum, it also took home the Choice Music Prize for the 2010 Irish Album of the Year.
In 2012, Two Door Cinema Club returned with their sophomore album, the Jacknife Lee-produced Beacon. Generally well received, the set hit the number one spot on the Irish album charts, and number two in the United Kingdom. It featured the singles "Sleep Alone" and "Sun," and preceded a short documentary about the band entitled What We See, which followed the trio on tour during the summer of 2012.
It was four years before the band's third effort materialized. Arriving in summer 2016, Gameshow found Two Door Cinema Club embracing an '80s disco- and synth pop-influenced sound, and included the singles "Are We Ready? (Wreck)" and "Bad Decisions." In support of the album, the group undertook a string of high-profile festival appearances, including Glastonbury. The record hit number five on the U.K. album chart, and reached number eight on the Billboard Top Alternative Albums Chart.
"Talk," the first single from the band's fourth album, False Alarm, appeared in early 2019. It was followed by "Satellite" a month later, and the LP was released in June. A year later, the group revisited their early days with the archival rarities collection Lost Songs (Found). A fifth full-length, Keep On Smiling, arrived in September 2022, having been recorded while Two Door Cinema Club were both in and coming out of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Produced by the trio, along with longtime associate Jacknife Lee and Dan Grech-Marguerat, the album featured the singles "Wonderful Life" and "Lucky." The driving, '80s-style synth and dance-rock anthem "Sure Enough" appeared in late 2023, just ahead of the trio's 2024 North American tour. ~ Heather Phares
