If the Lesson in Crime EP introduced Tokyo Police Club as Canadian disciples of the Strokes, then Elephant Shell finds them shedding their vintage leather jackets in favor of several different getups. Tracks like "Tessellate" and "Listen to the Math" dress themselves up with the same sort of witty, professorial wordplay of a Decemberists album, and frontman David Monks casually tosses off a word like "australopithecine" with the ease of an anthropologist. Elsewhere, the group's steady drumming and angular, post-punk guitars point listeners toward the dancefloor, even if some of Monks' lyrics are better suited for a funeral dirge than an energetic, indie rock anthem. "Meet me where your mother lies/We'll dig graves on both her sides," he sings during "Graves," a song loaded with images of "blackened brains" and "fingernails beneath the dirt." Such a track would be disturbing if Monks' bandmates didn't churn themselves into an energetic froth, their chopped-up guitar riffs and syncopated snare hits sounding refreshingly bright against the lyrics. Tokyo Police Club haven't emphasized this side of their personality before, but they've also never had the chance to stretch their legs and inject some variety into their spazzy rock. Like Thunderbirds Are Now! on a weak dose of sedatives, they barrel through Elephant Shell with kinetic energy while allowing their hooks to breathe. Lesson in Crime focused on the hustle, the energy, the frantic race to pack as much punky abandon into two-and-a-half-minute songs as possible, but Elephant emphasizes mood above adrenaline, with shoegazing guitars and short-lived ballads peppering the track list. So even though these tunes remain brief and concise (only one song, "Your English Is Good," tops the three-minute mark), they're also varied, which makes Tokyo Police Club's official debut seem less like the work of hyper-caffeinated teens and more like the promise of a smart, evolving band. [Early copies of Elephant Shell were packaged with a limited-edition bonus CD featuring remixes of five tracks.]
Tokyo Police ClubElephant Shell5 out of 10 Like the Blink-182 for today's generation of hipsters, Tokyo Police Club will permeate through your headphones, crawl into your skull, get stuck in your brain, and maybe even land a place in your heart ... or you might catch them playing in Urban Outfitters or on the MtvU channel. Their music is the stuff that makes college radio DJs squirm in their s...
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Here's a track off the Tokyo Police Club album, Elephant Shell. Check it out. People love this band.You can stream the song right here at MOG and if you dig, you can currently download over at Spinner:http://www.spinner.com/2008/03/04/tokyo-police-club-in-a-cave-free-mp3-of-the-day/
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Spinner has 2 great tunes up this week for free legal downloading. The first one is Tokyo Police Club's "In A Cave" from Elephant Shell:"In A Cave" on Spinner.com(Links go to a page about the song with a link to download)The second is the collaboration between Dizzee Rascal and Bun B and the late Pimp C - "Where's Da G's" - from Dizzee's Maths + English. Def Jux is releasing the album in the ...
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Tokyo Police ClubElephant Shell5 out of 10 Like the Blink-182 for today's generation of hipsters, Tokyo Police Club will permeate through your headphones, crawl into your skull, get stuck in your brain, and maybe even land a place in your heart ... or you might catch them playing in Urban Outfitters or on the MtvU channel. Their music is the stuff that makes college radio DJs squirm in their s...
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Spinner has 2 great tunes up this week for free legal downloading. The first one is Tokyo Police Club's "In A Cave" from Elephant Shell:"In A Cave" on Spinner.com(Links go to a page about the song with a link to download)The second is the collaboration between Dizzee Rascal and Bun B and the late Pimp C - "Where's Da G's" - from Dizzee's Maths + English. Def Jux is releasing the album in the ...
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Tokyo Police Club finished their first full-length album and are ready to release it in late April. The debut album is called Elephant Shell and will be released on Saddle Creek in North America and Memphis Industries in the UK. Elephant Shell: "Centennial""In A Cave""Graves""Juno""Tessellate""Sixties Remake""The Harrowing Adventures Of...""Nursery Academy""Your English Is Good""Listen To The...
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Canadian indie rockers Tokyo Police Club are releasing their first full length album Elephant Shell on April 22nd via Saddle Creek in North America and May 5th via Memphis Industries in the UK. The album follows their breakthrough EPs 2006's A Lesson In Crime, last year's Smith EP and digital-only single "Your English Is Good."The band will preview the material with an extensive tour through th...
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I like it. A lot.Their debut full-length, called *Elephant Shell*, is out April 22nd in the US, June 5th in the UK. Here's hoping it's more than 16 minutes, ??a la?? the *A Lesson In Crime* EP.
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old habits are hard to break, and sometimes they're just as hard to get back into. awakening from what feels like a long slumber/hibernation from any online presence, i'll start it nice and slow with "in a cave" lyrics from the tokyo police club. catchy little canadians...I threw darts at a spinning globeSwapping out passport photosI walked west to the setting sunEvery single step I grow anot...
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Though Tokyo Police Club caused quite the musical stir back in 2008 here in the UK with their excellent debut L. P 'Elephant Shell', the young Canadians are still pretty unknown over in America. Aside from a brief appearance in the popular ABC series Desperate Housewives last year (HERE), the band never seemed to be getting that much attention Stateside, that is, until now of course.
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From TPC's Bowery Ballroom show last April I've had the Ra Ra Riot and Andrew Maury (of RAC) remix of Tokyo Police Club 's "Juno" for nearly two weeks now. I've been bombarded with so much new music lately that I didn't get a chance to listen to this piece until this morning. The haunting plucked strings of the intro immediately grabbed my attention. What song was this? How long had th...
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The next BAGeL Radio Presents... event featuring Handsome Furs is next Tuesday, tune in to win tickets, but if you really want to go I suggest buying your tickets in advance because this one should sell out.New music featured today during "480 Minutes" will include songs by The Appletrees (from The Green Owl Comp - A Benefit For Energy Action), El Perro Del Mar (Gothenburg, Sweden), Jamie Lide...
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Here's a remix by Nightsweats for TPC's "Graves". Apparently TPC was having a remix contest on their myspace but Nightsweats never entered… actually they were a little too late. Too bad because it is f-ing good! "Graves (Nightsweats remix)" | download Don't forget to check TPC's new spring dates . Tokyo Police Club | Myspace | Tour Dates | Buy
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It might just be my callow youth talking, but the democratization of music manufacturing and distribution seems to have resulted in-- oh, good--more and more remixes that never had a good reason for existing in the first place. Surely Tokyo Police Club's "The Baskervilles", the final toast from the Canadian foursome's underrated Elephant Shell, wasn't the most obvious candidate for a remix, but...
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--- - |- Here's a remix that wasn't quite in time for their EP Elephant Shell (Remixes). This is one is by the kids from Ra Ra Riot & Andrew Maury. "Juno (Ra Ra Riot/Andrew Maury Remix)" | download You can find the album version on TPC's full-length Elephant Shell, available now on Insound. Tokyo Police Club | Myspace | Tour Dates | Buy - Tokyo Police Club
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Centennial |
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| 2 In a Cave |
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| 3 Graves |
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| 4 Juno |
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| 5 Tessellate |
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| 6 Sixties Remake |
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| 7 The Harrowing Adventures Of... |
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| 8 Nursery, Academy |
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| 9 Your English Is Good |
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| 10 Listen to the Math |
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| 11 The Baskervilles |
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| 12 [CD-ROM Track] |
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| 13 Centennial [Remix][*] |
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| 14 Tessellate [Remix][*] |
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| 15 Nursery, Academy [Remix][*] |
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| 16 Listen to the Math [Remix][*] |
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| 17 Tessellate [Remix][*] |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Elephant Shell")
