Vancouver’s Rebel Priest took a trip to Japan in 2019 and from the drunken debauchery they wrote a few songs, now being released as a four-track EP, the aptly named Lost In Tokyo. The second single off the EP is the second track “Back Alley Blues”.

Instead of a full-length concept album, Rebel Priest decided to make a punchy, succinct EP. They set the tone on each single by adding a few similar elements which bind them together on the album as a whole but each track is a juggernaut on its own and will stand strong independently. “Back Alley Blues” is a slinking little ditty about an imaginary place that is half sunset strip, half Detroit rock city, and about hanging with your crew. The band explains further:

“Imagine if you will, you’re a stray cat, walking down the street. You come across a mean old junkyard dog, you’re not afraid ‘cause you're a tough-as-nails, street thug. The dog starts barking, you keep walking, and the smell of a kitty of the other persuasion is in the air. You’re now hotter than on a summer day, you see an alley with an intoxicating scent. As you walk down the place you feel most at home, your nostrils spike because there is something else in the air. As you get to the end of the alley you see the kitty you have been looking for and they have a bag of catnip. That's just the beginning of your night.”

Not only did Japan leave its mark on the band, but the boys left theirs as well. Every place mentioned in ”Lost In Tokyo” is an actual place that has Rebel Priest stuff on the walls, this was due to drummer Nate Pole and roadie Jerry “Pred S. Thompson” leaving the hotel the first night without any translator or ideas where they were going. To this day they don’t know how they got back or how people knew them in bars they had never been to.

 The EP releases on August 13 via Batcave Records. Pre-order links to be announced at a later date.

Tracklisting:

"Lost In Tokyo"
"Back Alley Blues"
"Vulgar Romance"
"When The Whip Comes Down" (Slash Puppet Cover)

"Back Alley Blues":

"Lost In Tokyo" lyric video:

EP and live band lineup:

Jayme Black - Vocals/Bass
Benny Kemp - Guitars/Vocals
Nate Pole - Drums/Vocals