Tokyo Truck

Yesterday Tokyo Police Club did a three song segment with The Wild Honey Pie from out of the back of a cube truck in Greenwich Village (Minetta at MacDougal). Hardly any fans made it out for the taping, but a nice crowd did gather to see the sight. Only in New York!
As a long time fan of TPC, this was a very cool thing to take part of. Keep checking back here for the finished video sooner than later.

(expired) polaroid shot:

Top Five!

Newmarketers Tokyo Police Club stopped into Daytrotter recently in support of their sophomore record Champ. All and all it's a good session - the mix is clearly off and the playing feels a bit rushed, but TPC's undeniable live talent makes up for production issues.

The session includes an interesting, unreleased song called Top Five!.
I'm undecided about this track. It's a just composite of the many stylistic faces of Tokyo. Same synthy garage instrumentals, same simple structure...it just doesn't feel like anything special or progressive. Despite this criticism, it's still a very likable song.

TPC DTS

Review: Tokyo Police Club - "Champ"

I remember thinking that Elephant Shell, the debut LP from Toronto's Tokyo Police Club was one of the most cohesive albums I had ever heard. A few months and many plays later, turns out I'd confused it with repetitiveness, and that CD has been sitting on my desk collecting dust since then.

Such is not the case with their second LP, Champ. The tracks are polished, varied, poppy and addictive, but somehow still manage to maintain the faux-grunge TPC aesthetic. Just about every song is radio-friendly and it can be played on repeat without getting tiring. Standout tracks include Gone, Frankenstein and Bambi.

The only criticism I have, which is true of pretty much every TPC release, is the lyrical content. By in large, they're nonsensical. Fun to sing along to, but meaningless. That being said, there is a 'youthful' undertone to every song - as in, there are younger brothers, kites, Bambi and fighting monsters under the bed with "superglue and paperclips". This only bothers me because Elephant Shell wasn't really any different, except it was mostly about death. In fact, they glorified being young in Nursery/Academy and provided semi-terrifying imagery of death in the other tracks.

But these things don't really bother an average listener, do they?

I highly recommend Champ regardless.

official site

The Champ-ionship / Just Say It: A New Chapter for Indie Marketing

As if reaching across every social media site wasn't enough for bands to do online these days, a new trend has emerged. It's difficult to label said trend, but a few groups that this blog has been following have been linking their album name with some sort of giveaway contest. That's not much of an accurate description, so onto the examples:

The Champ-ionship

Tokyo Police Club

This is a contest that's being held by Toronto natives Tokyo Police Club. Their second LP, Champ is due out on June 8th, and they're touring extensively through North America with Passion Pit (TPC is supporting) and Freelance Whales (" headlining).

To promote their record, they're holding a Champ Championship. Fans send in contest ideas, and the 'best' one will be chosen by TPC, who will go to the winner's town to compete in their challenge against them. See link above for more information/to enter.

"Just Say It" Minisite

Born Ruffians

It seems as though TPC got their idea from their friends/neighbors Born Ruffians. Their album Say It comes out on June 1, and they're also touring quite a bit with Young Rival in support of the release. Because their new band motto is to 'talk about things before they happen', it's fitting that they would set up a box where fans can verbalize, rant or just blabber anonymously. Others vote up or down on entries, and the BR will pick from the top 5 on June 20th. The winner will receive a signed guitar, a signed vinyl and concert tickets, among other prizes. sayit.bornruffians.com

Tokyo Police Club - "Champ" Details

Tracklist:

01 Favourite Food

02 Favourite Colour

03 Breakneck Speed

04 Boots of Danger (Wait Up)

05 Bambi

06 End of a Spark

07 Hands Reversed

08 Gone

09 Big Difference

10 Not Sick

11 Frankenstein

Champ is TPC's sophomore record. It will be out June 8 on Mom+Pop Records.

New Tokyo Police Club: "Breakneck Speed" (mp3)

Tokyo Police Club sophomore LP Champ is almost completed and ready to be released on June 8th, 2010 via Mom+Pop Records.

A cut from the album, Breakneck Speed, was released today for free. They've toured with this song quite a bit in the last few years. 'Champ' is looking good if it follows this song's cues.

Tour dates (with Passion Pit) on myspace.

Download Breakneck Speed here.

Fall Six ( A Playlist)

Know Better, Learn Faster - Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
The Walls are Coming Down - Fanfarlo
French Navy - Camera Obscura
Lately - BOAT
Friends of P - Tokyo Police Club
Big Run - Luke Lalonde

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VIDEO: Tokyo Police Club - "Hands Reversed"

New Tokyo Police Club: Hands Reversed

Really lovely track, although it does seem like they might be starting to become pretty influenced by their friends Born Ruffians. Anyway, hopefully they will keep it as is - it's very strong in its acoustic form.

TPC's follow-up album to Elephant Shell is in production, but no details of release have been announced.

All Points West - Saturday

Super muddy.
Super humid.
At least it didn't rain!
Anyway,

The Postelles were playing in the Queen of the Valley stage/tent right near the entrance as I arrived (late). Caught a few songs..they're finished recording!




Arctic Monkeys on the Blue Comet Stage. This was a muddy and crazy packed set. It was really hot, people were tossing around mud covered beach balls and the stage was so far away with a photo and VIP pits built in front of the barrier.
But the set was pretty good. They played all of their singles and were chatting it up.

Terrible pictures & sight lines ensue..AND Alex Turner's moppy haircut is not cute anymore :(



I headed back over to the Queen of the Valley stage after to wait it out for Tokyo Police Club.
Stopped on the way to watch St. Vincent from afar for a little bit, she sounded really great (didn't get pictures though)




In the tent, The Honey Brothers were on the stage playing their last song for a very small crowd. They seemed like really nice guys. The drummer looked like Vince from Entourage. (edit: it actually WAS Vince from Entourage!!)



Next, Chairlift took the stage 20 minutes late (you know, the iPod commercial band- I tired to do handstands for you, every time I fell on you..) The dummer/bassist looked like Casey Affleck! It was shaping up to be quite a celebrity-look-alike day.
I have to say, this band is really cute. But they really had to turn down their bass/bass drum/synth. Everybody was covering their ears. The whole tent was shaking. It was unbearable for a few songs.




Then, Tokyo Police Club! This was the third set that I had seen them play and definitely the best one. During Honey Brothers I had gotten a spot in the front. So worth standing through Chairlift for TPC. Got a few good pictures this time.







After the TPC set I went to talk to Graham (keys), Josh (guitar) and Greg (drums) once they finished load-out. No Dave (vocals/bass) though. They were so friendly. Chatted with Graham for a few minutes about solo projects and TPC recording. But I forgot to ask about NOVELS!! (That's the solo EP with Luke from the Born Ruffians and a couple other Canadian indie guys that recorded it over 24 hours.) Grr.

Blog Club

Toronto's Tokyo Police Club are recording a follow up to their first LP Elephant Shell in Hoboken (no jokin'). Pretty exciting!

They've got a new blog + update it quite a bit.
http://lookuptobicycle.wordpress.com

What People Do

Unreleased Born Ruffians track that I am 100% confused by, searching for the MP3, liking it and not knowing why.
It sounds like it could fit on John Mayer's 'Continuum' at the very beginning.
And then The Strokes throughout...strong rhythm guitar.
Automatic Stop-y riff somewhere in there.

This is probably ca. 2005 when they were writing their EP.
It doesn't seem like their style anyway.



This is something real
for those who cannot feel
or hear
or fear
or even be near
let's make this a big deal.

I miss them already
and I didn't see their encore with TPC >:(

'First Aid Kit'
just co-written. unreleased, unrecorded

want the mp3?

copy this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEBM36NAe4o & click here

she stays in, grounded down on med-i-cine.

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Last Night: Harlem Shakes/Born Ruffians/Tokyo Police Club

click to enlarge! They all kinda suck though.

Harlem Shakes:

Born Ruffians:

Tokyo Police Club:

I could talk about this show for a long time. It was at Webster Hall in the east village and was really good. Crowd was insane. All kids, tall 20-somethings and lots of pot (as usual).

Harlem Shakes are pretty much an accessible hybrid of Animal Collective and Modest Mouse, so if you like those guys, check them out. I could tell that a couple of people were confused by them, but I could also see that they would have a market.

Born Ruffians set was so good. Everyone was so into it. People were singing along and the floor was bouncing, it was really fun. They opened with Badonkadonkey (they always do) and closed with I Need a Life. The rest of the set list, not in this order: Red, Yellow & Blue, Barnacle Goose, Hummingbird, Foxes Mate for Life, Hedonistic Me, In a Mirror and Kurt Vonnegut. No new songs.

Unlike BR, every other Tokyo Police Club song was new and I'm pretty sure they were stoned/drunk/both. They took way too much time to set up and the kids got out of control during the set, which was really annoying. Tall people blocked my view. We left 2/3rds of the way through their set. I just read about an after party in SoHo that was free with a ticket, which sucks, but it might have been 21+.

Passed the merch table on the way out and saw the bassist from the Born Ruffians (Mitch) selling their stuff. I was with my mom (ugh) because nobody else would come with me, but he recognized us from last time we saw them at their acoustic show at Soundfix Records in Brooklyn (nobody would come with me then either). We talked for awhile...I learned:

1. Steve the drummer was not there because he didn't want to tour this year
2. I asked and they're writing/recording their 2nd LP this summer
3. They want to release it January 2010

and then I had to buy a shirt because we were talking for too long. Haha

Download the Whole Catalog: TPC

Tokyo Police Club. Good music. KUTE. Canadian. Win-Win-Win situation. I remember I was going to see them sometime last year (maybe it was the beginning of this year) and I was like, "oh, I know them, Their English is Good" because I had downloaded the single when it came out in 2007. Ended up seeing them at Rogers Picnic anyway.

Since I have acquired the rest of their catalog, which includes 2 short EPs - A Lesson in Crime and Smith. Get both of these and BLAST them when you are alone. The band took some heat for the length, but I like short songs/albums/EPs.

Their first LP Elephant Shell is really good. Super cohesive. Like the most cohesive album I've ever heard. That I can remember. And I'm a sucker for cohesiveness. . . I'm not being sarcastic , the album is a 28 minute song. The album has a central theme of youth/growing up/aging/dying - circle of life kinda deal.

If you download singles, don't bother with Tessellate. For some reason the general consensus is negative, even though it's not a bad song per say. Personally I don't think it's a good representation of the band/album.

Tracks of Note:
1. Centennial. The album opener, good arrangement, cute meaning.
2. Juno
3. Sixties Remake
4. Nursery, Academy. This is a well crafted song. There is the best 1 second cold open I've ever heard that doubles as an innitial hook, making it very a likable song.
5. The Baskervilles. Album closer, I just like this one for some reason.

TPC Myspace

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