Wait Up (Boots of Danger) – Tokyo Police Club Wait Up (Boots of Danger) – Tokyo Police Club (Buy)
First and foremost, Tokyo Police Club is not at all what the name suggests. One may expect neon nightsticks bludgeoning me as exotic sushi rolls were shoved down my throat; instead, I came across heart-encrusted inflatable baseball bats merely poking me while California rolls were the only things sliming their way down my esophagus. Originally from that mystical and beautiful land that is Canada, this band genuinely delivers catchy and melodic tunes time and time again. Whether their formula is aimed to be one that guarantees a success rate which keeps their bellies full and their fans satisfied, or not, the fact is Tokyo Police Club can’t escape from the fact that it’s albums, and subsequently their songs, are radio-ready and insatiably pop. We’ve seen it before, a band that is hyped and expected to deliver ear-thrashing mayhem but, as the marketability secures their welfare, only become stagnant and repetitive.
Their latest effort, Champ, will certainly not make you jump out your bedroom window out of delight by any means, if anything, it’s an album that you’ll have playing, at low volume, as your boyfriend attempts to sneak IN through the window for a night of sparkling wine and awkward pre-marital relations. That is to say, Champ contains all the elements that have made them such a commercial success. From their blogging-beginnings to their appearance on everyone’s favorite drama The Hills to their fairly applauded second LP, Elephant Shell, Tokyo Police Club have endured the rise of the pyschedelic-experimental-dancy goo, which is widely engulfing the youth, to retain their original flavor. With songs barely under four minutes, their approach on Champ is direct and clear: chords here and there to get the head bobbing, a dab a melodies centered on providing their power-pop appeal and lyrics detailing childhood/teenage ardor and heartache.
On the opening track, Favorite Food, we are offered a track that, whether intentional or not, basically sums up what I was bound to experience for the rest of the album. It begins as a slow jam with some promise of leading up to something that’ll leave me numb all over, alas, about halfway through the post-punk, guitar pop severs my head wide open and I’m left to wonder what could’ve been. Perhaps my ‘favorite’ track on the album would be Wait Up (Boots of Danger) with its catchy hooks and bouncy drums and the reminders of how I felt freshman year in high school. However, the track that left me quite confused and gave me my overall impression of Champ comes in Hands Reversed. The drums sounded as if TPC wanted to show us what reggaeton might sound like if it came from Canada. Needless to say, the confusion would grow exponentially as vocalist Dave Monks professes that “a breakfast of champions is a hedonistic hell”, a line which besides summing up the mood of the song left me to wonder who are these “champions” they speak of and, for that matter, why is the album titled Champ?
If indeed the lyrics in Hands Reversed and the title suggest that the band is in prime form, the LP did little to emphasize that point. It is, like I mentioned, repetitive and not at all exciting. Of course, the album, and those to come, will sell but Tokyo Police Club is far from claiming itself or anything they produce among the ranks of a Rocky Balboa or a Stone Cold Steve Austin.
