The Mystery Lights includes friends Michael Brandon and Luis Alfonso -whose shared fondness for groups like The Mc5, Velvet Underground, Dead Moon, and The Fall (just to name a few) -decided to join forces and craft their own brand of unhinged rock and roll. From there they spent the better part of 10 years touring relentlessly before migrating to Queens, New York in 2014.

Upon the release of their self-titled full-length in June 2016 The Mystery Lights toured extensively, including multiple stops in Europe, Asia and Australia followed which found the group graduating from support slots at hole-in-the-wall clubs to headlining stages at major festivals worldwide.

The Mystery Lights, settled back into Queens to prepare for their second full-length record, Too Much Tension. With Wayne Gordon in the producer’s chair and several intense writing sessions under their belt the group were back at Daptone’s House of Soul and ready to track. While keeping the hard-hitting approach of the first LP, Too Much Tension finds the group digging deeper into their well of eclectic influences, enriching their sound without echoing the past. Mixing the eerie, insistent synth sounds of groups like The Normal and Suicide, the energy and swagger of punk’s golden age, the pop sensibility of The Kinks, and the stark, deliberate execution of Television -The Mystery Lights are taking their idiosyncratic brand of rock and roll to dizzying new heights.

In celebration of the release of ‘Too Much Tension!’, The Mystery Lights will be hitting the road for a run of dates through North America and Europe.

The Mystery Lights
Too Much Tension!
Daptone/Wick Records
Track listing

1. Synthtro
2. I’m So Tired (Of Living in the City)
3. Can’t Get Through To My Head
4. Someone Else Is In Control
5. Goin’ Down
6. Wish That She’d Come Back
7. Thick Skin
8. Too Much Tension
9. Watching The News Gives Me The Blues
10. It’s Alright
11. Traces

The Mystery Lights
Tour Dates

5/18: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg – Release Show
5/31: Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
6/1: Washington, DC @ DC9
6/2: Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room
6/4: Atlanta, GA @ 529
6/5: Nashville, TN @ The High Watt
6/7: Dallas, TX @ Sundown at Granada Theater
6/8: Austin, TX @ Barracuda
6/10: Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge
6/11: Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
6/12: Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
6/13: San Francisco @ The Chapel
6/15: Seattle, WA @ Barboza
6/16: Vancouver, BC @ Static Jupiter
6/17: Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
6/18: Boise, ID @ Neurolux
6/20: Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
6/23: St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
6/25: Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
6/26: Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room at The Crofoot
6/27: Toronto, ON @ Monarch Tavern
6/28: Montreal, QC @ L’Escogriffe
6/29: Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Club Upstairs

12/09 – Dingwalls – London (UK)
1/10 – Night & Day Cafe – Manchester (UK)
2/10- Belgrave – Leeds (UK) – buy
3/10 – Cluny 2 – Newcastle (UK)
4/10 – Broadcast – Glasgow (UK)
5/10 – Sugar Club – Dublin (IE)
6/10 – Hare & Hounds – Birmingham (UK)
0/10: FR, Lille @ L’Aeronef
10/11: FR, Rouen @ Le 106
10/12: FR, Nantes @ Stereolux
10/14: FR, Rennes @ Ubu
10/15: FR, Paris @ La Maroquinerie
10/16: BE Eupen – Alter Schlachthof
10/17: BE, Brussel @ Botanique
10/18: NL, Nijmegen @ Doornroosje
10/19: NL, Rotterdam @ Left of the Dial
10/23: FR, Belfort @ La Poudriere
10/24: CH, Basel @ Kaserne
10/25: CH, Luzern @ Südpol
10/29: ES, Donostia @ Dabadaba
10/30: ES, Madrid @ El Sol
10/31: ES, Vitoria @ Helldorado
11/1: ES, Barcelona @ Upload
11/2: ES, Benidorm @ Funtastic Dracula Carnival
11/4: ES, Sevilla @ Sala x
11/5: PT, Lisbon @ Sabotage