Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell

Hey! I’m here again…with week 2. This might be a more laborious process than I anticipated! Once a week really is once a week. Enough blabbering though! Let’s get to that all important band: Tokyo Police Club!

These guys are from somewhere special – my homeland. That’s right…these wonderful creatures come from Canada. Newmarket, Ontario to be more precise. They formed in 2005 but garnered enough buzz in indie circles in Canada and beyond to propel them to a wider audience.

I first heard of them through an awesome website: www.insound.com. It’s a great place to discover new artists as it allows for a free download to sample the music. I was initially attracted to their name in all honesty – and that hunch proved right as their music was equally incredible! I downloaded the track Elephant Shell, which grew on me each time I listened to it. It was after this that I couldn’t wait for the full length to be released. At that time, it was still a month or so before it was unleashed on the public.

I patiently waited, and in the meantime, listened faithfully to their EP – A Lesson In Crime. This EP is not to be taken lightly though – it rocks hard and fast. It has a different feel than their full length but just as impressive. I would highly recommend listening to this as well as another EP titled Smith. Both are short but worth every second.

Once Elephant Shell started rocketing around online – I started pumping it through my speakers. (Elephant Shell was released on April 22nd). Truthfully, I was expecting something a little more upbeat or even aggressive but that’s not to say this is an exceptional album. It is – really is. Intelligent at times and sonically brilliant always. But don’t just take my word for it. Check it out!

Website: http://tokyopoliceclub.com/

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/tokyopoliceclub

Until next time…

-Paul