Tokyo Police Club
Posted by: Niels Guénec on: May 13, 2008
Elephant Shell, 2008
Three years ago a guy called Dave Monks had discovered ‘Silent Alarm’ by Bloc Party and ‘Echoes’ by the Rapture and got inspired. Back then he really didn’t know what else to do than play music. This caused the beginning of a basement project with three other guys from his high school in Toronto, CA. They shared the same passion for music. They were fond of Bloc Party and the Rapture as well, so they started writing songs. The four companions called themselves Tokyo Police Club. This was three years ago.
In the past months people on both sides of the northatlantic ocean has been waiting patiently for their debutalbum. In advance of this Tokyo Police Club released two EP’s and especially the first one from 2006 caugth manys attention. This eight track-long EP is called ‘A Lesson In Crime’. I remember sitting at my computer discovering the band by listening to an alternative music radio. ‘Nature of the Experiment’, the first single from the EP, was high-rated on their top 10. This was in january 2007 and that song was in heavy rotation the rest of the month.
‘Elephant Shell’ is now in stores and the musical content is adequately fulfilling my expections. Every track is brand new and the band simply is a better band than in 2006. If you liked ‘A Lesson In Crime’ you will indeed like this album. It is unmistakably the crispy, scrathy and catchy sound of Toyko Police Club. It is the restless beats of drummer Greg Alsop combined with the soft voice of frontman and bassist Dave Monks. The catchy riffs from guitar player Josh Hook accompanied by the sonorous key- and synth effects of Graham Wright. You could call it traditional alternative music. The band does absolutely not add a new dimension to music genres. This is not experimental music in any way. The band is better described as an respresentative of newer tendencies in alternative garagerock; what in popular talking is named “indie rock”.
The average duration of a Tokyo Police Club track is two minutes and thirty seconds. This doesn’t give a lot space on the album, no room to breathe. The rapidity unables a futher profundity on the album and this can make the songs sound (almost) exactly alike. The first impression can be superficial. This was indeed an issue on ‘A Lesson In Crime’. That was, however, an EP and the reason why the new record works fine is because of tracks like ‘The Harrowing Adventures Of…’ and ‘Listen to the Math’ where you find the thoughtfulness and a lower tempo. And when you can write songs like ‘In a Cave’, ‘Tessellate’, ‘Nursery, Acedemy’ and ‘Your English Is Good’ your album is already reaching high standards.
Another factor that increases the quality of the album is the lyrics. The melancholic melodies together with Dave Monks’ sensetive vocals and sentimental lyrics gives you a pleasant feeling of nostalgy and the ever longing after something. In reference to this there an interessting blog entry on TPC’s website, “Our New Record”, written by Graham Wright. He blog about this exact feeling: “A Lesson in Crime was a record for Friday nights. It was the record you would throw on at the party with twenty of your friends, the record that everyone could get up and dance to. It was quick and immediate and to the point. But when the partys over, and you’re giving a ride home to the girl you have a crush on, thats when you put Elephant Shell on. Its the record that you listen to when you’re driving around town in the dark, wondering if she likes you, wondering if you should have tried to flirt more, or less.” Lines like “Dead lovers salivate / Broken hearts tessellate tonight” in the fantastic chorus on ‘Tessellate’ evokes a very special feeling in me and causes the goose bums. On ‘The Harrowing Adventures Of…’ you find the touchy line “Two wrongs making right” follow by a beautiful cello theme and the lyrics gets intelligent on ‘Nursery, Academy’: “Paper walls unfold, as you’d expect / The house that built a home for architects”. And of course the lovely ending on ‘In a Cave’ that titled the album: “Elephant shell / You’re my cave and i’ve been hiding out / Will you tell me a little bit about / A bit about yourself”.
TO SUM UP ‘Elephant Shell’ is a romantic album. The sensetive vocals, up tempo beats, tambourine and hand clapping percussions and melancholic guitar- and piano themes is very catchy and appealing. Tokyo Police Club is unique because of this rare-seen catchyness and their way of making good things better. Because of the ever longing and thoughtful lyrics which makes your think and feel because it takes time to capture its message. All of this is the reason why TPC could play on David Letterman without even having released a full length album and why TPC has gone from being a gloomy basement project to being the new hope youngsters in alternative music. Get the album and enjoy!
Facts:
- John Drew (Interpol, The National) produced most of the album.
- TPC was formed in 2005
- ‘A Lesson In Crime’ was released in 2006
- ‘The Smith EP’ in 2007
- ‘Elephant Shell’ released in april 2008 in EU and North America
- TPC played at Coachella (live with Cold War Kids), Reading and Glanstonbury. On Europe-tour this upcoming summer.
- TPC plays indie / garage rock / pop like Bloc Party, the Rapture, the Strokes.
