Indie icons on ghostly tour

One of rock music's more glamorous bands is coming to New Zealand.

Placebo, the androgynous trio who count David Bowie, Michael Stipe, Bono and Marilyn Manson among their friends, will play the Auckland Town Hall on July 19 to promote their fourth album, Sleeping With Ghosts.

Scottish-American frontman Brian Molko teamed with Swedish bassist Stefan Olsdal and British ex-Breed drummer Steve Hewitt in the mid-90s, originally emerging on the Britpop scene as Ashtray Heart. After changing their name to Placebo, Molko's uniquely nasal hits such as Nancy Boy, Pure Morning and Every You, Every Me helped them sell more than three million albums and established the band as gender-bending indie icons.

In 1998, Placebo recorded a cover of the T. Rex classic 20th Century Boy for Velvet Goldmine, a film in which they also appeared. Molko recently collaborated with the Alpine Stars on the track Carbon Kid.

Concert tickets go on sale on Friday.