I've owed Emperors of Japan a favor since, like, six weeks on the job, when Tony Poer's entry in my Flier of the Week contest won, committing me to attending one of their shows. Through cruel circumstance, I actually haven't made good on that quite yet, but I hope to Friday, when they celebrate their new CD, Ice Queen, with a show at the fabulous Ruby Room. As our reporter Mike Meyer says in the feature on them in this week's paper, this record is a big step forward for the band, and I've been digging my promo copy.

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