Tokyo Police Club Sign With Saddle Creek

Tokyo Police Club have signed a global deal with Conor Oberst's Saddle Creek label for the world excluding Europe and Japan, and the Newmarket, Ont. band will start recording their next record in September for an early 2008 release.

The punky group's previous releases — the A Lesson In Crime and Smith EPs and the iTunes-exclusive Live From Soho — came out through Toronto's Paper Bag Records.

Tokyo Police Club signed the new deal when they were in Omaha, Nebraska, the home of Saddle Creek's headquarters, to play a gig as part of their current U.S. tour.

They'll travel to Austria and England for shows in August before more North American performances in September and October. Here are their Canadian dates:

Aug. 31 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Ballroom
Sept. 2 Vancouver, BC @ The Plaza
Sept. 9 Toronto, ON @ Toronto Island (Virgin Festival)
Oct. 11 Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid
Oct. 12 Saskatoon, SK @ Louis' Pub
Oct. 13 Edmonton, AB @ Starlite
Oct. 16 Victoria, BC @ Sugar