Born out of the demise of two of Minneapolis' cherished rock institutions'syncopated whiskey-throat bawlers Thunder in the Valley and the blaze-of-jubilant-loose that was Hockey Night'Leisure Birds first hit the stage in May of 2008 featuring Jake Luck (Thunder In The Valley, GAYNGS) on vocals, keys and percussion, Nick Ryan (Thunder In The Valley, GAYNGS) on guitar, Cory Carlson (Hockey Night) on bass and Alex Achen (Hockey Night) on the drums. They've played the historic First Avenue mainroom as one of the Twin Cities' œBest New Bands, ranked near the top of City Pages' annual œPicked to Click list, and had their only released output, the track œBurn the Beach favorably reviewed by Pitchfork Media. Jake and Nick also contributed to the widely-praised project of Minneapolis producer and TGNP co-founder Ryan Olson, Relayted by GAYNGS (Jagjaguwar), and Jake took part in the band's national tour which culminated with a performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.