They name of the band Robbers On High Street sounds like everybody has heard it before, but „Tree City“ is their debut album and I guess not that many people have bought their former EP „Fine Lines“ before, because it`s only available via import.

The Robbers On High Street are from New York and consist of Ben Trokan (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Steven Mercado (guitar, vocals), Morgan King (bass) and Tomer Danan (drums). Since 2002 they`ve been around in the Big Apple. Steve and Ben know each other since highschool, which they spent in the funny sounding city called Poughkeepsie, before they went to NY.

„Tree City“ sounds totally different than the „Fine Lines“ EP, which may result in the fact that they had to find themselves as a band first: „I think it took as a while to figure out what we really want and what sort of music we`re good at making. I think that the songs on the album are more honest lyrically. The songs on the EP were more about figuring out who you are and what you want to do.”

So sometimes it´s a good reason to first release an EP to make the first experiences in the band and use these two years before album release for developing themselves. „When Steve and I first started writing together, we wanted to sound like Led Zeppelin, but we couldn`t write stuff like that because we`d listened to too much Beatles as kids”, mentions Ben. “I think a big thing that helped us was that I took piano lessons at school and started writing songs on the piano. I think that helped awaken my writing and take the songs to some places that they wouldn`t have gone if they`d all been written on guitar.”

Now the Robbers On High Street are creating their own sound and style as you can hear in the great opener ‚Spanish Teeth’, the melancholic ‚Beneath The Trees’, which could be a hit in a better world, the unlucky ‚Amanda Green’, the danceable US single ‚Love Underground’ or the beautiful ‚Killer Bees’. It´s always difficult to compare to other bands and at the moment not that many bands have been mentioned Robbers On High Street sounding like, but Spoon, Ben Folds and Koufax have been mentioned sometimes. The Robbers themselves don`t really care about these comparisons and is more behind a band like the great Kinks: „I love The Kinks, because they were this rowdy, unruly rock`n`roll band, but at the same time they came up with these beautiful little songs about small things and everyday life.“

“Tree City” was produced by Peter Katis, who also worked with Interpol, Mercury Rev and the Get Up Kids. The album also contains two binus tracks. ‚Opal Ann’ from the already mentioned „Fine Lines“ EP and the previously unreleased ‚The Menninger Institute’. „There`s so many bands out there now that it can be a little overwhelming, but there also seem to be a lot of young bands now who put a real emphasis on melody and songs, who make fun music that also has some substance. That makes me feel like there`s a place for us.”

“The Robbers` perfect combination of melody and harmony make every song stand out; the result is an album you`ll play over and over.” Paper Magazin

„Tree City proposes a landscape of overcast romance and sad shrugs, all of it set to a shapely, handsome soundtrack.“ Steven Chen, Filter

“This CD is so melodic and so smart that it updates Ben Folds.” Geoffrey Himes, Washington Post

„Prepare to get your heart stolen. Robbers On High Street are so good, it`s criminal.” Rebecca Kumar, Nylon

„Brilliantly penned, pensively executed slices of pop rock, the Robbers do with music what impressionist Monet did with a paintbrush. Heartfelt and real.! Hustler