High Expectations Meet Demand

Transitioning from a highly popular EP to a longer full-length provides a considerable challenge for some bands. Material that has been condensed into the tight packaging of an EP is stretched out—weaknesses present themselves, lulls rear their dreary complexion, and material simply doesn’t hold up. Not so for Toronto’s Tokyo Police Club. With their explosive 2006 debut EP A Lesson in Crime to expand upon, the noisome quartet had high expectations to meet and a high-velocity style to keep intact. Their LP follow-up Elephant Shell easily meets both requirements with seemingly effortless skill.

‘Centennial’ is as different an opener from ‘Cheer It On’ as possible. Rather then hectic bass-led melodies, we’re presented with a fairly tame romp through easily accessible instrumentals and sweet vocals. Rather than a dilution of their energetic indie rock, tracks like ‘Centennial’ are an expansion of Tokyo Police Club’s style. The very next track ‘In A Cave’ dispels all worries. This is the Tokyo Police Club we heard back in 2006: dominantly pounding bass, chiming keyboards, and more lyrics than should rightfully fit within two and half minutes.

Yet even here the raw energy felt in tracks like ‘Nature of the Experiment’ from A Lesson in Crime is absent. The songs are more refined, mature, and well thought out—but lost is the freewheeling adrenaline. The trade is worth it, though. The glittering synthesizers and overwhelming clapping of ‘Tessellate’ makes it one of the catchiest tracks of 2008. Likewise, the charming loud-soft dynamics of ‘The Baskervilles’ and ‘Sixties Remake’ more than make up for a loss in primeval rushes.

Gone too are the futuristic sci-fi doomsday tales found in tracks like ‘Citizens of Tomorrow’. Tokyo Police Club’s lyrical politics have become more subtle and less overt: “Showed them what the back of our hand is for/The divide is clear in the coming year/The rich will take the poor.” This too is a favorable shift. The group’s lyrics have become more imaginative and evocative than ever, providing more beauty in one-liners than in previous entire songs (“A toast to the last of a dying breed,” “Two wrongs making right,” and “You try but you only ever treat the symptoms” being a few examples). And if it’s the fantastical story telling you’re missing, no worries! The submarine-companionship of ‘The Harrowing Adventures Of’ should supply all the Meloy-style tales you need.

In the end, Elephant Shell is the perfect adaptation from EP to LP. This isn’t a longer Lesson in Crime and it shouldn’t be: the band has progressed and refined their sound brilliantly. Relentlessly catchy songs are interspersed with sweeter tracks like “Listen to the Math,” expanding the Toronto’s group repertoire and adding more bases to build off of in the future. Tokyo Police Club have survived the full-length test and can still get you moving effortlessly.

Michael Schmitt