Album Review

Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell

• 28th Apr 2008

A double whammy of pedestrian, forlorn reflection in the form of ‘Centennial’ then the bass and percussion push-pull of ‘In A Cave’, signals this Canadian quartet’s siege on the more rustic and reflective musical battle ground.

The latter song nutshells singer/bassist Dave Monks’ pleading stance and, at times, he is almost begging you to listen. It is as though he is pleading to a lover who has just found out that he’s been cheating on her with her grandma’s best friend.

Slowly Tokyo Police Club twist up the tempo, through the rhythmic percussion thrusting touch of Greg Alsop and the inner Brian Molko in Monks’comes out through his stretching vocals. As this foraging debut full-length unfolds, an Okkervill River groove is settled into with the slightly theatrical tug of ‘Juno’. Continuing through to the pop friendly heart-on-sleeve, clatter percussion cruise of ‘Tessellate’.

Slow building, hand-clapping stroked atmospheric tale, ‘The Harrowing Adventures Of….’ sees the timely deployment of Monks’ folk/blues gelling touch, doling out bemusement and capturing a lacklustre feeling better than Tim Henman after yet another Wimbledon exit.

Moodiness is always a hit and miss tactic to deploy especially on a debut album. However, in this case it helps the tempo build and it is done with enough sincerity to keep it from treading over the borders into monotony territory. This sincerity and an earthy vibe makes the melodic indie moan of ‘Nursery, Academy’, more than bearable and it reminds you of the skill with which Air Traffic pulled off a similar number last year.

The sliding electro fuzz of ‘Your English Is Good’, more than atones for the brooding material, given its fresh snap and Hot Chip eclipsing eccentricity.

Tokyo Police Club leaves a lingering sense of reflection, slight dejection and a foot shuffling sense of rhythm. Do you really want or expect anything more from a debut album?