Semi Precious Weapons
Encyclopedia
Semi Precious Weapons is a rock band
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 consisting of Justin Tranter
Justin Tranter
Justin Tranter is an American musician and jewelry designer. He is most famous as the lead singer of Semi Precious Weapons, a New York "garage glam" rock band...

 on vocals, Stevy Pyne on guitar, Cole Whittle on bass and Dan Crean on drums. Pyne replaced former guitarist, Aaron Lee Tasjan, in November 2008. The band play their own "Filthy Glamour" brand of rock music and espouse a "Dirty Showbiz" philosophy.

Career

In 2006, Semi Precious Weapons (SPW) was formed by Berklee College of Music graduates Tranter, Whittle, Crean and Tasjan. In 2007 erstwhile manager BP Fallon
BP Fallon
BP Fallon is an Irish DJ, author, and photographer. He currently lives in New York.At a young age Fallon became a famous personality and broadcaster in Ireland, moving on to music journalism and photography....

 brought in Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...

 to produce their first album, We Love You. Funded by Tranter's jewelry sales, they originally released the album as a free download.

In March 2008 the band signed a worldwide recording agreement with Razor & Tie
Razor & Tie
Razor & Tie is a New York-based corporation founded in 1990 by Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam. The company encompasses a record label with major label distribution , a home video company, a media buying company, a music publishing business, a marketing, promotion and sales team, and a direct...

. The band's album We Love You was re-released under this label on September 30, 2008. Semi Precious Weapons signed to Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...

 in November, 2009. Since November 27, they have been the special guests for Lady Gaga's
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...

 The Monster Ball
The Monster Ball Tour
The Monster Ball Tour was the second worldwide concert tour by American recording artist Lady Gaga. Staged in support of her album The Fame Monster and comprising a set list of songs from that and her debut album The Fame , the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 2009 through 2011...

. At the same time they began recording a new album titled You Love You, which released on June 29, 2010.

In January 2008 they caused a stir in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 after Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...

 attended their concert at London's Death Disco club and danced with 'six foot bisexual' singer Justin Tranter. Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

 described the band as "unashamedly crass and deliciously animated". On March 18, 2010, the band's eponymous song "Semi Precious Weapons" achieved their first number one - on New Zealand radio station The Edge.

Justin Tranter has a jewelry line called "Fetty" that sells at Barneys New York
Barneys New York
Barneys New York is a chain of luxury department stores headquartered in New York City. The chain owns large stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale, and smaller stores in other locations across the United States.Brands sold include...

. The designs include weapons, hearts, and diamond braille. Justin Tranter was a coach on the MTV show MADE
Made (TV series)
MTV's MADE is a self-improvement reality television series broadcast on MTV. The series follows teens who have a goal and want to be "made" into things like singers, athletes, dancers, skateboarders, etc. The teens are joined by a "Made Coach", an expert in their chosen field, who tries to help...

, where he helped a shy sixteen-year-old become a bassist in her own band. Their track "Magnetic Baby" is featured as a downloadable track in Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems. It is the sequel to Rock Band and is the second title in the series. The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments...

. The band had a cameo in the video for Lady Gaga's "Telephone
Telephone (song)
"Telephone" is a song written and performed by Lady Gaga. It was released from her third extended play and second major release The Fame Monster . The song, featuring American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles, was written by Gaga and Rodney Jerkins...

" and served as her opening act on her 2009-2011 tour The Monster Ball Tour
The Monster Ball Tour
The Monster Ball Tour was the second worldwide concert tour by American recording artist Lady Gaga. Staged in support of her album The Fame Monster and comprising a set list of songs from that and her debut album The Fame , the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 2009 through 2011...

.

Semi Precious Weapons are currently recording their third studio album which is due for an 2012 release.

Studio albums

Title Details Peak positions
US Heat
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...


We Love You
We Love You (album)
We Love You is the debut album by New York band Semi Precious Weapons. The album was originally released as a free download. However, when the group signed with Razor & Tie Records in 2008, they re-released the album under their new label. Several of the songs became live favourites, including the...

  • Release date: September 30, 2008
  • Label: Razor & Tie
    Razor & Tie
    Razor & Tie is a New York-based corporation founded in 1990 by Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam. The company encompasses a record label with major label distribution , a home video company, a media buying company, a music publishing business, a marketing, promotion and sales team, and a direct...

  • Formats: CD
    Compact Disc
    The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

    , music download
    Music download
    A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

You Love You
You Love You
You Love You is the second studio album of American glam rock band Semi Precious Weapons. It was released on June 29, 2010 by Interscope Records.-Track listing:-Critical reception:-External links: at Metacritic...

  • Release date: June 29, 2010
  • Label: Interscope
    Interscope Records
    Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...

    /Geffen Records
    Geffen Records
    Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

  • Formats: CD, music download
  • 10
    "—" denotes releases that did not chart

    Singles

    Year Single Album
    2010 "Semi Precious Weapons
    Semi Precious Weapons (song)
    "Semi Precious Weapons" is a self-titled song by glam rock band Semi Precious Weapons, and is the lead single from their second studio album You Love You.-Track listing:-Awards:...

    "
    You Love You
    "Magnetic Baby
    Magnetic Baby (song)
    "Magnetic Baby" is a song by American glam rock band Semi Precious Weapons, and is the second single from their second studio album You Love You....

    "
    "Look at Me"
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