Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell – Saddle Creek – 2008

One of the big buzz bands of the last few years, Tokyo Police Club up until now only had a couple of EPs out there, but today have come out with their debut full-length LP called “Elephant Shell“. With this release they certainly are building off of the sound of their live shows and the previous EPs, and this certainly sounds a lot more focused than their previous releases.

I saw these guys live last year at the great Schuba’s here in Chicago and they put on an awesome show. They have a very good, full sound live, and that really comes across pretty well on this album. They have these great, short little songs that fire up and burn very quickly; the longest song is 3:11 and that is the only song over 3 minutes. They don’t spend time dilly-dallying, but that is to the albums strength as it certainly makes for a very focused, intent album. I think their EP “A Lesson in Crime” was similar in terms of the song style, but the production was much different. On that EP, the sound was very stripped down and eclectic, and the sound on this album is a much fuller experience. There isn’t a great deal of variety here, but I think that is just a result of them knowing how they work well together and knowing how to write a great, short rock song, and sticking to that. They go for a quick, high-energy burst of a song and they do it very, very well. I think this album does a better job of capturing their live sound and energy than the EP, because the EP showed their great promise but sounded somewhat disjointed, but this album works very well together. Pretty much all of the songs are infectious, catchy songs. The songs here, “In A Cave” and “Tessellate” are perfect examples of their ability to put together a great song.

In the end, these guys have a very definitive style, and you probably either love it or hate it. This is not a sweeping rock opera record, it is a quick, carpet bomb attack of catchy short rock songs (exactly like their show) which will probably have you bobbing your head. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but the songs are great, and reflect the band’s high energy and fun atmosphere on stage. This is an album to put on to put you in a good mood for sure. Every song on there is good too, you can just kind of throw it on and let it go. Highly recommended. Also, as I posted yesterday, MTVu has up a streaming of this album so you can check it out.

I will be in attendance to see these guys at Metro once my exams are finished (wish it was Schuba’s again), so I am very much looking forward to it. They are on tour elsewhere throughout the US this Spring/Summer so make sure to go see them if you get a chance.

Tour dates thusly:

Apr 22 2008 7:00P Virgin Records (Union Square) New York, New York
Apr 22 2008 8:00P Bowery Ballroom (SOLD OUT) New York, New York
Apr 23 2008 8:00P Sound Fix Brooklyn, New York
Apr 24 2008 8:00P Paradise Rock Club Boston, Massachusetts
Apr 26 2008 8:00P Pearl Street Night Club Northampton, Massachusetts
Apr 28 2008 8:00P First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Apr 29 2008 8:00P Black Cat Washington, DC, Washington DC
Apr 30 2008 8:00P Big Orbit’s Soundlab Buffalo, New York
May 2 2008 8:00P Opera House (SOLD OUT) Toronto, Ontario
May 3 2008 8:00P Opera House (SOLD OUT) Toronto, Ontario
May 4 2008 8:00P Magic Stick Detroit, Michigan
May 5 2008 8:00P Metro Chicago, Illinois
May 6 2008 8:00P Varsity Theatre Minneapolis, Minnesota
May 8 2008 8:00P Garrick’s Theatre Winnipeg, Manitoba
May 9 2008 8:00P Louis’ Pub Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
May 10 2008 8:00P The Warehouse (SOLD OUT) Calgary, Alberta
May 11 2008 8:00P The Warehouse Calgary, Alberta
May 12 2008 8:00P The Starlite Room Edmonton, Alberta
May 14 2008 8:00P The Habitat (SOLD OUT) Kelowna, British Columbia
May 15 2008 8:00P Plaza Club Vancouver, British Columbia
May 16 2008 8:00P Plaza Club Vancouver, British Columbia
May 17 2008 8:00P Sugar Nightclub Victoria, British Columbia
May 18 2008 8:00P Neumos Seattle, Washington
May 19 2008 8:00P Hawthorne Theatre Portland, Oregon
May 22 2008 8:00P Bluebird Theatre Denver, Colorado
May 23 2008 8:00P Slowdown Omaha, Nebraska
May 29 2008 8:00P Barfly Cambridge
May 30 2008 8:00P Bodega Nottingham
May 31 2008 8:00P Cockpit Leeds
Jun 1 2008 8:00P Night & Day Manchester
Jun 3 2008 8:00P Barfly Birmingham
Jun 5 2008 8:00P Le Bontanique Brussels
Jun 6 2008 8:00P Rock Am Ring Nurburgring
Jun 7 2008 8:00P Rock Im Park Zeppelinfeld
Jun 8 2008 8:00P La Maroquinerie Paris
Jun 10 2008 8:00P King Tuts Glasglow
Jun 11 2008 8:00P Other Rooms Newcastle
Jun 12 2008 8:00P Academy Oxford
Jun 13 2008 8:00P Marquee Hertford
Jun 16 2008 8:00P Digital Brighton
Jun 17 2008 8:00P Thekla Bristol
Jun 18 2008 8:00P Scala London

Tokyo Police Club – In A Cave – From Elephant Shell
Tokyo Police Club – Tessellate – From Elephant Shell