A Lesson in Crime EP (Paper Bag Records)
These Toronto upstarts really work that whole brand recognition angle as David Monks shouts “Tokyo Police Club” over and over (most press photos display the name prominently, too). While singing your own band’s name in song is as about as cool as making up your own nickname, TPC manage to make pop twitchier than Parkinson’s and as sweetly infectious as the “kissing disease.” Their bass lines thump and slap imperiously enough to make you forget the overdose of handclaps intro’ing “Nature of the Experiment” while the song just chugs along, with docile, doom-laden lyrics and gracefully restrained keys. But from one song to the next, the CD seems only faintly to be the product of the same band, nailing the Strokes, Postal Service, and Thunderbirds Are Now! in turns. Though stylistically, the EP is verdant enough to leave grass stains on your eardrums, there’s ample solid songwriting and plenty iron-filled melodies to firmly anchor, and certainly to keep those ears clean enough to hear the full-length debut. -- Melody Caraballo*
*Originally published in Amplifier.
Stream the album here.
2/10/07 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza (PLUG Awards)
3/6/07 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater *
3/7/07 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave *
3/8/07 – Madison, WI @ The Annex *
3/9/07 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean *
3/10/07 – Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s *
3/12/07 – Little Rock, AR @ Juanita’s *
3/13/07 – Tulsa, OK @ Bob’s
3/14/07 – Dallas, TX @ Gypsy Tea Room *
3/15/07 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s (Tag Team/The Onion SXSW Party)
3/19/07 – New Orleans, LA @ The Republic *
3/20/07 – Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder *
3/21/07 – Orlando, FL @ The Social *
3/22/07 – St. Augustine, FL @ Café 11 *
3/23/07 – Atlanta, GA @ Vinyl *
3/24/07 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge *
3/26/07 – Mt. Pleasant, SC @ Village Tavern *
3/27/07 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 *
3/28/07 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
3/29/07 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church *
3/30/07 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East *
3/31/07 – Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street *
4/6/07 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
4/7/07 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom *
4/9/07 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
4/28/07 – Indio, CA @ Coachella
* w/ Cold War Kids
