# The Airborne Toxic Event
**The Airborne Toxic Event** is an American indie rock band from [Los Feliz, Los Angeles](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-feliz-los-angeles), California, formed in 2006 and known for the modern rock hit "Sometime Around Midnight" and for songwriting that draws on literature, most visibly the [Don DeLillo](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-delillo) novel from which the band takes its name.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) • [2](https://livesessions.npr.org/artists/the-airborne-toxic-event) Critics have consistently grouped the band with post-punk and new wave revival acts while singling out singer Mikel Jollett's literate lyrics.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/01/airborne-toxic-event-review)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Formed 2006 in Los Feliz, on the edge of the Hollywood Hills; early residency at the Echo club in Los Angeles[4](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2008/07/airborne-toxic-event/) |
| Name | Taken from a section of Don DeLillo's 1985 novel *White Noise*, the "airborne toxic event" cloud[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) • [5](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/breaking-the-airborne-toxic-event-2-100189/) |
| Signature single | "Sometime Around Midnight" reached the Top Five of the modern rock chart in 2008 and brought a 2009 Island Records signing[5](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/breaking-the-airborne-toxic-event-2-100189/) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) |
| Best-charting album | *All at Once* (April 26, 2011), No. 17 on the Billboard Albums chart[2](https://livesessions.npr.org/artists/the-airborne-toxic-event) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) |
| Lineup changes | Bassist Noah Harmon replaced by Adrian Rodriguez in 2014; violinist Anna Bulbrook left in 2019[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) |
| Latest album | *Glory* (listed as *Glory Glory*), released 2024 on Amplified Media Services[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) |
## History and formation
The band began in 2006 in Los Feliz, where singer and guitarist Mikel Jollett formed it during what he described as a period of personal crisis: his mother fell ill, he fell ill himself, and his father was terminally ill. He picked up the guitar and, by his own account, played eight hours a day for a year.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-09-et-airborne9-story.html) Jollett had worked as a music reviewer for NPR before starting the band.[7](https://www.npr.org/2008/08/04/93283263/the-airborne-toxic-event-rock-gets-literary)
**Early rise.** The group built a local following with a residency at the Echo, a Los Angeles venue, and released a debut EP and single, both titled "Does This Mean You're Moving On?", in 2007.[4](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2008/07/airborne-toxic-event/) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) They signed with Majordomo Records in 2008 and released their self-titled debut album that August.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) • [4](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2008/07/airborne-toxic-event/) The single "Sometime Around Midnight," a song about seeing a beautiful woman at a rock show and losing her to the night, entered the [Top Five](https://www.edgepedia.org/top-five) of the modern rock chart in 2008,[5](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/breaking-the-airborne-toxic-event-2-100189/) and [Island Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/island-records) signed the band in early 2009 on the strength of that hit.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) In fall 2008 the band played 30 shows in 30 days in the United Kingdom.[5](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/breaking-the-airborne-toxic-event-2-100189/)
## Members and lineup changes
The original five-piece lineup was Jollett on vocals and guitar, Daren Taylor on drums, Noah Harmon on bass, Steven Chen on lead guitar, and Anna Bulbrook on violin, viola, and keyboards.[4](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2008/07/airborne-toxic-event/) Bulbrook was raised performing classical music and played viola and violin; Harmon held a jazz degree from CalArts and admired [Charles Mingus](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-mingus), and Rolling Stone noted that he broke out a bow onstage, as Bulbrook did in the band's more solemn moments.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-09-et-airborne9-story.html) • [5](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/breaking-the-airborne-toxic-event-2-100189/)
Two founding-era members have left. In 2014 Harmon was replaced on bass by Adrian Rodriguez, the same year the band moved from Island to Epic.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) Bulbrook departed in 2019, ahead of the band's sixth album.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) Jollett, Taylor, and Chen have remained from the original lineup, with Rodriguez continuing on bass.[2](https://livesessions.npr.org/artists/the-airborne-toxic-event)
## Name and literary influences
The band's name comes from the section of Don DeLillo's 1985 postmodern novel *[White Noise](https://www.edgepedia.org/white-noise-novel)* in which an airborne toxic cloud envelops the story; Rolling Stone described the band as named after that "dubious cloud."[5](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/breaking-the-airborne-toxic-event-2-100189/) The literary reference is not decorative: NPR noted that the band infuses its catchy rock with literary references, and Jollett was an aspiring novelist before he started the band.[7](https://www.npr.org/2008/08/04/93283263/the-airborne-toxic-event-rock-gets-literary) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/01/airborne-toxic-event-review) The connection extended to prose in 2020, when the album *Hollywood Park* served as a companion piece to Jollett's memoir of the same name.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592)
## Discography
| Album | Release | Label | Chart peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| *The Airborne Toxic Event* | August 5, 2008 | Majordomo | Debut album, released that week[4](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2008/07/airborne-toxic-event/) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-09-et-airborne9-story.html) |
| *All at Once* | April 26, 2011 | Island | No. 17, Billboard Albums chart[2](https://livesessions.npr.org/artists/the-airborne-toxic-event) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) |
| *Such Hot Blood* | 2013 | Island | No. 27, Billboard 200[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) |
| *Dope Machines* | February 2015 | Epic | [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) |
| *Songs of God and Whiskey* | 2015 | Band's website (exclusive) | [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) |
| *Hollywood Park* | 2020 | Rounder | [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) |
| *Glory* (listed as *Glory Glory*) | 2024 | Amplified Media Services | [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) |
## By the numbers
The band's commercial peak came between 2008 and 2013. "Sometime Around Midnight" reached the Top Five of the modern rock chart in 2008,[5](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/breaking-the-airborne-toxic-event-2-100189/) and AllMusic describes it as a Top Ten modern rock hit; the two accounts differ on the exact band of the chart, and both are reported here.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) *All at Once* reached No. 17 on the Billboard Albums chart in 2011, and *Such Hot Blood* peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard 200 in 2013.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) On the road, the fall 2008 UK run of 30 shows in 30 days stands as the documented measure of the band's early touring intensity.[5](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/breaking-the-airborne-toxic-event-2-100189/)
## Critical reception and sound
AllMusic classifies the band as indie rock that combines post-punk with literate indie rock.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) Reviewers have reached for a consistent set of comparisons. NPR's 2009 review called the self-titled debut "extremely catchy and energetic guitar rock" in line with new wave and post-punk revivalists such as Interpol, Hot Hot Heat, and Franz Ferdinand.[8](https://www.npr.org/artists/93172933/the-airborne-toxic-event) The debut also earned comparisons to [Modest Mouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/modest-mouse) and [Arcade Fire](https://www.edgepedia.org/arcade-fire).[7](https://www.npr.org/2008/08/04/93283263/the-airborne-toxic-event-rock-gets-literary) SPIN described fuzzed-out guitars and danceable Franz Ferdinand-like grooves.[4](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2008/07/airborne-toxic-event/)
**The recurring criticism** is derivativeness. AllMusic's review of the debut found the band running from shoegaze and [Ian Curtis](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-curtis)-style vocals to Strokes-like pop and disco-rock, "executing them all efficiently" without quite making the styles their own.[9](https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-airborne-toxic-event-mw0000791892) A Guardian review put it more bluntly: the band "have been accused of being derivative and they are," inviting thoughts of Arcade Fire and the Strokes, while crediting Jollett's lyrical talents as what marks them out.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/01/airborne-toxic-event-review)
A distinctive strand of the band's performing identity is its orchestral work. The group has performed frequently with the Calder Quartet, a Los Angeles string quartet, and has played concerts with the Louisville Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and is known for blending rock with orchestral arrangements.[2](https://livesessions.npr.org/artists/the-airborne-toxic-event)
## What has changed since 2023
The band's most recent studio album is *Glory*, released in 2024 on Amplified Media Services, its first since *Hollywood Park* in 2020.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592) The band remains an active touring unit: its official site lists 2026 and 2027 North American dates, including The Showbox in Seattle, the Wiltern in Los Angeles, the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, a Guild Theatre date in Sacramento, and Palm Springs dates in March 2027, with several shows rescheduled from September 2026.[10](https://theairbornetoxicevent.com/)
## References
1. [The Airborne Toxic Event — Biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-airborne-toxic-event-mn0001001592)
2. [Live Sessions: The Airborne Toxic Event, NPR](https://livesessions.npr.org/artists/the-airborne-toxic-event)
3. [The Airborne Toxic Event review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/feb/01/airborne-toxic-event-review)
4. [The Airborne Toxic Event, SPIN](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2008/07/airborne-toxic-event/)
5. [Breaking: The Airborne Toxic Event, Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/breaking-the-airborne-toxic-event-2-100189/)
6. [Well, that's life, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-09-et-airborne9-story.html)
7. [The Airborne Toxic Event: Rock Gets Literary, NPR World Cafe](https://www.npr.org/2008/08/04/93283263/the-airborne-toxic-event-rock-gets-literary)
8. [The Airborne Toxic Event, NPR artist page](https://www.npr.org/artists/93172933/the-airborne-toxic-event)
9. [The Airborne Toxic Event — Album Review, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-airborne-toxic-event-mw0000791892)
10. [The Airborne Toxic Event official site](https://theairbornetoxicevent.com/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Ensembles and groups › Rock, pop, and metal bands › Rock, indie, and pop groups › Indie and alternative bands › Indie pop bands › American indie and alternative bands › 2000s bands*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license