★ Electronic Press Kit ★ May 2026
The Gr8st Hits, Vol. 1 — Released May 4, 2026
A band with serious jazz pedigree, a killer sense of humor, and music that sounds like nothing else on the planet. Or off it.
When the Klaxon Mutant Allstars crash-landed on Earth in the 1980s, first contact between the cosmos and humanity was, by any measure, a significant event. The Klaxons, however, were more interested in the music. Before mysteriously departing, they never got around to recording their most popular songs — their Earth colleagues kindly stepped in with their own distantly related renditions. Tears for Fears, Phil Collins, George Michael, Stevie Wonder, and others took care of that. An entire decade of hits. You’re welcome.
Now returning in 2026, the band has finally brought those songs home to reunite with their beloved cousins on The Gr8st Hits, Vol. 1, released May 4th. This is not a cover album. As it turns out, everyone on Earth in the 1980s was covering them. It’s a small universe after all.
Back on Earth, the Klaxon Mutant Allstars are among the Bay Area’s most inventive and in-demand ensembles, born out of a Wednesday night residency at San Francisco’s Amnesia bar and honed into one of the region’s most celebrated jazz acts. The group brings together Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Henry Hung (Stanley Clarke, Jimmy Cobb, Poncho Sanchez, Pacific Mambo Orchestra), saxophonist Kasey Knudsen (Charlie Hunter, Fred Frith), drummer Eric Garland (Will Bernard, Mads Tolling), keyboardist Colin Hogan (Peter Erskine, Too $hort, Mads Tolling), and bassist Jonathan Herrera (Stanley Jordan, Zigaboo Modeliste, Cathedrals).
Praised by the East Bay Express for capturing “the voracious appetite of the Bay Area jazz scene, where any and all sounds are fair game for sonic repurposing,” the Klaxons have earned a devoted following through sharp original writing, crack musicianship, and a stage presence that Memory Select described as full of “a real sense of fun.” Alameda Magazine called them “a bevy of the region’s most inventive improvisers” whose tunes “careen in unpredictable directions.”
The Gr8st Hits, Vol. 1 is the fullest expression yet of the band’s restless, genre-defying voice — equal parts straight-ahead swing, funky groove, and experimental edge. It reflects the technology-obsessed, multi-cultural energy of the city that made them, and sounds like nothing else on the planet. Or off it.
“Represents the voracious appetite of the Bay Area jazz scene, where any and all sounds are fair game for sonic repurposing.”
— East Bay Express
“A bevy of the region’s most inventive improvisers whose tunes careen in unpredictable directions.”
— Alameda Magazine
“Clever writing and crack musicianship — a casual, warm stage presence and a real sense of fun.”
— Memory Select
“An acclaimed ensemble with a cult following — featuring the region’s most in-demand musicians.”
— East Bay Monthly