Tokyo Police Club

On T.P.C.'s debut mini-album, A Lesson in Crime, the Ontario foursome had out-Stroked the Strokes to prove that, yes, the world does need yet another indie-styled post-punk band. Elephant Shell once again demonstrates that their emotive and youthful approach to this nearly used-up formula still has a few drops left when you really mean it. "Centennial" and "Graves" stutter with chunky drumbeats under layers of guitar, while singer Dave Monks nasally croons symbolist love tales. This time around they might even kill the Killers.

Many songs on this spiky Canadian quartet’s full-length debut are best appreciated with
a Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary close at hand — especially with lines like “Dead lovers
salivate/Broken hearts tessellate.” Tokyo Police Club’s 2006 EP, A Lesson in Crime,
earned them copious blog love and frequent comparisons to the Strokes, but Elephant Shell
makes clear that the band’s ambitions are as much literary as musical. Singer-ba... More >