A Lesson In Crime
Fate has been smiling down on Tokyo Police Club since its conception in a suburban basement in greenbelt Toronto, Newmarket Ontario. First time round the band went the way of many and parted company. Yet, the experience of creating music together made such a lasting imprint on the quartet that only a few months later the draw became too great:- out of the ashes of their former line-up, Tokyo Police Club was born. And didn’t break up again, thankfully for us. Before long these self-styled robot/global-emergency-loving, ummmm…Japanese law enforcers (ha) found that others outside that Newmarket basement shared in the love of their creations (and quite rightly so). Playing gigs to intimate crowds quickly morphed into a sell out show at the Pop Montreal festival – their first gig playing to an audience that was not only genuinely interested, but *gasp* enthusiastic. It was a pivotal moment after which things really started to happen. Before long, their CD landed on the desk of fledgling Toronto label Paper Bag Records (who they later signed to for releases on home turf), and the band embarked on a series of shows across Toronto, earning them a reputation for performances that are exuberant, lively, and unrestrained. Seemingly on a mission to redefine Canada’s increasingly fruitful music scene (most noted for the likes of The Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and Hidden Cameras), TPC are truly establishing their place at the vanguard of a new generation of bands rapidly coming to the fore. Alongside acts such as Born Ruffians, We’re Marching On, Sailboats are White, and UK labelmates The Russian Futurists, Tokyo Police Club are beginning to take their own younger, vibrantly enthusiastic share of the spotlight. With this the band are ready to take on the UK “like the musical Napoleon that [they] are,” one continent at a time, and with a little (or a lot of) help from revered UK indie label, Memphis Industries. The plan of attack begins with the release of their debut mini-album, ‘A Lesson in Crime’ on February 12, 2007. This high-speed-bullet of a record took only three days to bring together. Far from being an act of scrimping, this excitable velocity is the essence of TPC - translated here into the post-punk over-excitement of the music itself. Opener “Cheer It On” was originally written by TPC’s first incarnation and gave rise to their name, with the lines: “When you’re standing near – Tokyo Police Club!/ When you’re standing next to me – Tokyo Police Club!/ Lost in the pacific – I’m arresting you for being in love.” Which, according to the band, justifies the name in its own ridiculousness. Popping bass lines pull you through each song, plunging you into apocalyptic landscapes ruled by robot masters in “Citizens of Tomorrow” or the more sinister “Shoulders and Arms” Laser-beaming keyboards and gun-firing guitar riffs anchor the tracks; where any hint of pessimism is quickly eradicated by the band’s penchant for hand clapping…which can actually end up sounding something like an acoustic bass. Impressive. Bundle all of this with cheeky bonus track, “Cut Cut Paste,” rooted in the middle of the record, so as not to make you wait until long after it’s conclusion to get their extra piece of TPC, and it’s quite a package. Youthful exuberance, raw danceability, and comic-book-active imaginations rule the troubled universe Tokyo Police Club are sent to serve and protect. Brace yourselves for a UK invasion!
Much-ballyhooed indie upstarts offer twitchy micro-Strokes riffs and hyper post-punk on this economical, promising EP.