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Following one of the most well-received 16 minutes of music in recent history (2006's A Lesson In Crime EP), Newmarket, Ontario's Tokyo Police Club confirms the release of its debut album Elephant Shell, due out April 22 on Saddle Creek.
Elephant Shell lands roughly a year and half after A Lesson In Crime (with last year's Smith EP and "Your English Is Good" digi-single bridging the gap), which has sold over 30,000 copies and garnered accolades from Entertainment Weekly ("We can hardly wait for the full length" A-), Rolling Stone ("If only all young guitar bands were smart enough to rock out this fast, banging out seven first-rate mod-punk party starters in barely more than sixteen minutes"), Interview, Blender, Nylon and The New York Times among others.
Tokyo Police Club was formed in 2005 by David Monks (vocals, bass), Josh Hook (guitar), Graham Wright (keyboards), and Greg Alsop (drums). Elephant Shell is the sound of these four early-20-somethings, now seasoned by hundreds of shows from tiny clubs to the festival throngs at Coachella and Glastonbury, delivering on every bit of promise in their rapid-fire barrage of material to date. The opening one-two of "Centennial" and "In A Cave" barely evaporates before "Graves" and "Juno" pack innumerable hooks and "what-does-that-remind-me-of" glimmers into meager 2-minute-and-change frameworks, while first single "Tessellate" and "Sixties Remake" encapsulate everything great about the manic TPC live experience: soaring guitar signatures and keyboard figures, driving backbeats and irresistible singalongs abound. Elsewhere, "The Harrowing Adventures Of..." and the down-tempo standout "Listen To The Math" find our young protagonists ably adapting their energy into more subdued structures before the rousing coda of "The Baskervilles" brings the record to an all-too-early halt.
"Tessellate" goes to radio in early April. Meanwhile the ever-growing pack of Tokyo Police Club fans are already grabbing up the tickets to recently announced dates beginning March 18 and running up to and beyond the release of Elephant Shell. Early demand has already resulted in the addition of second and third shows in the Los Angeles and New York markets, respectively.
-Saddle Creek
On Pretty.Odd, Panic At The Disco have ditched the (!) that used to follow the word "Panic" in their name. They haven't ditched their knack for writing sugary-sounding, yet lush power pop punk ditties that have the tweenaged girls screaming their lungs out. It's painfully apparent that PATD have are shooting for the moon. The band recorded the album at the legendary Abbey Road studio in the UK, and it employs an orchestra on Pretty.Odd. But the question remains: did the band overshoot and will their youthful fanbase appreciate such musical progression?
Apparently, these guys think they are The Beatles or even Cheap Trick. Some of the frivolous, upbeat energy of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out has been replaced by serious, expansive rock n' roll textures. The band isn't afraid to try a quirky ballad ("Northern Downpour," which is the album's best track) or a 1930s—style romp in the form of "I Have Friends In High Places." Tunes such as "Nine In The Afternoon" and "Do You Know What I'm Seeing" are humorless, despite the band’s sound being thickened by stringers and fuller arrangements, while "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)" could easily double as the background music during a crucial parting-of-ways scene in any romantic comedy at the multiplex. That is, it's easily digestible, instantly memorable, but it doesn't exactly keep the mood light. It's as though PATD are trying a bit too hard to do a bit too much. On Pretty.Odd, they're like the kid with ADD that drank a can of coke through a Pixie stick straw.
— Amy Sciarretto
03.24.08
I'm surprised I couldn't find a review for this album. These guys blend techno/electronica with hardcore and pop and the result is too catchy for its own good. Listen to The Birds and the Bees for proof.
Track List:
1. The Birds and The Bees
2. Lovely
3. Gossip
4. Put Some Clothes On
5. Diamonds
6. Don't Forget, Lock the Doors
Demos from Ace Enders' new album.
Track List:
1. Emergency
2. From a Daze
3. My Chances
4. SOS
Acoustic versions of all the songs from The Good Life's Album of the Year.
Texas sets a new standard for pop music. PlayRadioPlay!'s sole man-behind-the-curtain, Dan Hunter, has crafted an alterna-pop epic that's catchy, tongue-in-cheek and straight-up danceable. Clashing synth textures and pop-punk melodies, Hunter's found the middle ground between Justice and Blink 182. That's quite a place to be for a young songwriter, and it shows he’s only going to get better with age. "I'm a Pirate, You're a Princess" is the kind of witty pop kids these days need to hear, while "Madi Don’t Leave" has a chorus that's epic enough to trigger an arena sing-a-long. Some of the album's later cuts don't pack the same potent punch that the first half of the record does. However, that can be overlooked with pop brilliance like "Some Crap About Furniture" and second-to-last track "Forgiveness, The Enviable Trait." In the end, pop this in and be ready to dance, because even the grooves are bigger on Texas.
—Rick Florino
03.17.08
