Thumpers

London's hyper-polished indie pop duo Thumpers originated with longtime friends John Hamson, Jr. and Marcus Pepperell, who first made music together during their teenage years yet waited until 2011 to pursue a serious collaboration by trading ideas via e-mail and other written exchanges. Those remote conversations soon led to in-person sessions devoted to intensive recording, and by 2012 the accumulated sketches and concepts had coalesced into the project known as Thumpers. The pair refined their hook-driven, melody-rich pop material until Sub Pop took notice, offering the band a deal after several tracks gained wide circulation online. Although Pepperell and Hamson continued to operate primarily as a duo, they enlisted producer David Kosten for select tracks on their first album and expanded the live lineup with a frequently changing roster of supporting musicians. Throughout 2013 the group supported Chvrches and Everything Everything on tour before launching their own headline dates, and early the following year they released their debut album, Galore.