Rainbow Danger Club

One of Shanghai’s most talented new bands, Rainbow Danger Club has been wowing Chinese and foreign music fans since the 2010 release of their debut EP, The New Atlantis. Their theatrical live shows, fantastical lyrics, and lush arrangements have drawn comparisons to the Arcade Fire and the Decemberists as well as David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Berlioz. With the release of 2011’s full-length Where Maps End, Rainbow Danger Club have established themselves at the forefront of a new generation of Chinese rock coming out of Shanghai.

Formed in 2009 in Shanghai, Rainbow Danger Club is comprised of Jesse Munson on lead vocals, guitar and keyboard; Dennis Ming Nichols on bass, keyboard and percussion; Michael Corayer on trumpet and Michael Ford on drums. After an inaugural gig in Shanghai’s Harley Bar, the group has played regularly throughout Shanghai, either headlining or with bands such as Boys Climbing Ropes, Duck Fight Goose, Pairs, and X is Y. In the spring and summer of 2011, Rainbow Danger Club toured regionally in China, opening for American prog-rock band Lymbyc System in Hangzhou and organizing and playing in a “Shanghai Invasion” of Wuhan’s Vox Livehouse.

Both Where Maps End and The New Atlantis showcase the band’s penchant for epic storytelling in their lyrics and baroque production values. Rainbow Danger Club is unapologically grandiose in their sound and performances. Their album release party was a culmination of the band’s ever-popular live shows, where waistcoats and vintage flying goggles are as common as giddily dancing audience members and rousing, fist-pumping sing-alongs. With limited means (Where Maps End was recorded primarily in lead singer Munson’s apartment and produced by bassist Nichols), Rainbow Danger Club has gathered both a dedicated fan following across China and the world, as well as glowing reviews in the Guardian (UK), CNNGo, and MTVIggy. Their song “Neighbors on the Rooftops” was selected for the Guardian’s Music Alliance Project Global Music Mixtape and voted Best Song of 2010 by City Weekend Shanghai. With fans chiming from as far as the Netherlands, Belgium and South Dakota, Rainbow Danger Club is poised for even more international attention and acclaim in the coming year.