The Yellow Dogs are from
Tehran, Iran. They sang in
English and played Western instruments, citing
Joy Division,
Talking Heads as an influence. Their music was not approved by Iran's
Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and was therefore illegal. They performed in
Bahman Ghobadi's Cannes Un Certain Regard award-winning film,
No One Knows About Persian Cats and were interviewed by Reza Sayah for CNN before leaving Iran. The Yellow Dogs played their first 'aboveground' (legal) concert at the Peyote club in
Istanbul in January 2010. Two days later, they flew to
New York City. Their second 'aboveground' concert was at the Cameo Gallery, in
Brooklyn, New York. They later played Santos Party House and the Delancey in New York, and they played the Wave in
Austin, Texas as part of the
SXSW festival. They played the 92nd St. Y Tribeca in Manhattan at an afterparty for the U.S. opening of
No One Knows About Persian Cats. Another band, also from
Tehran, was also on the bill for this concert,
Hypernova. Koory and Looloosh were part of the original line-up of Hypernova. But they did not leave Iran when other Hypernova members departed for the United States. On April 13, 2010
Milan Records released the
No One Knows About Persian Cats motion picture soundtrack. The Yellow Dogs track "New Century" is included in the motion picture soundtrack, and bassist Koory appears on the CD cover and on the movie poster.
IFC Films released the movie on demand on April 14, 2010, and in theaters two days later.
November 2013 shooting On November 11, 2013, a shooting took place in Brooklyn that involved Yellow Dogs band members. Originally, media reports described Akbar as a former band member who had been thrown out of the band three days before. In later reports, however, it was stated that he had never been an official member of the Yellow Dogs, but had hung out with Yellow Dogs since being expelled in 2012 from a different Iranian emigre rock band, Free Keys. ==Discography==