Music review of Elephant Shell by Tokyo Police Club
“Tokyo Police Club” is a Canadian indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario. Tokyo Police Club was formed in 2005 and consists of Dave Monks (vocals and bass), Josh Hook (guitar), Graham Wright (keyboards) and Greg Alsop (drums). His musical genres are mainly indie rock, garage rock, and post-punk revival.
Elephant Shell has a good opening with “Centennial”. Within a few seconds of opening, you can hear the sound of a robot breaking down. The robot might be stuck or stuck somewhere, I thought to myself. Shortly keyboard dragged and Dave Monks just walked in. Centennial is not a fast tempo track, but the guitar and bass seem to be able to figure this track out. On the bridge, applause that is joined by the keyboard, only enters for a brief second. And that could be one of Centennial’s greatest moments. At the end, I like Dave Monks to say, “I just wish the best, but you won’t believe me, next Thursday night is our 100th anniversary…” followed by a wedding-type keyboard. A short opening, but I’m determined to find out more about the Tokyo Police Club.
“In A Cave” begins with guitar reaching from afar before joining In A Cave’s central bass line. Before Dave walks in, the music is already really good. When it comes to the chorus where Dave says again, “All my hair grows, the wrinkles leave my skin, but still, they don’t fade… I’ll be back when the tide comes in someday…”, the keyboard suddenly kicks in. and the rest of the Tokyo Police Club can be heard helping Dave in the background. The second verse gets even fiercer with the guitar and bass, but somehow it’s not strong. He still manages to sound light and effortless. The best bet on In A Cave is definitely the minute remaining after the second chorus. Dave just swaggers, “Elephant shell, you’re my cave and I’ve been hiding, can you tell me a little about yourself?” and next to it are guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard playing on notes we first hear at the beginning. Only this time, the Tokyo Police Club adds some magic to it! Awesome Tokyo Police Club stuff here!
From the lyrics of “Graves,” it sounds like a horror movie script. “Pack up your ashes, pack up a watch, change clothes and a face scarf, meet me where your mother lies, we’ll dig graves on both sides…” The guitar continues to loop once Graves opens before the drums , bass and keyboard all come in together. A sudden adrenaline rush! Graves is one of those tracks that doesn’t actually have a chorus and relies on the music to drag it down or make it a longer track. After Dave’s voice in the second verse, he feels like the Tokyo Police Club is taking a short break by playing the music. They really have great taste in keyboards. Near the end, Dave simply sings through to the end accompanied by a howling-like sound that goes on and off.
“Juno” has some drum beats. As Dave sings in the chorus, there seems to be a background sound that I think is produced by the Xylophone instrument, which gives it a Christmassy feel. Coming into the chorus, Juno seems to be turning to the keyboard to accompany Dave’s vocals, “You and your soapy eyes, you called it off so late at night, but your hand is on your heart, ’cause your head is always right… “. The xylophone also plays its part here on a few notes that really complement the chorus. As Juno progresses, she ends on a sudden, tired note: “Juno, you’re tired…” But I’m only just getting to know the Tokyo Police Club.
“Tessellate” has a high, sharp guitar tone at the beginning. Just as Dave sings each line of the verse, keyboards that have some catchy ingredients kick in at just the right time to make sure we listeners have a great time listening to Tessellate. In the chorus, Dave sings in his familiar voice: “…Dead lovers salivate, broken hearts tessellate tonight…” The Tokyo Police Club shows some effort by adding applause along with Dave’s voice . Tessellate’s real deal is definitely the keyboard sound, which never fails to grab my attention because it’s just too good. And sometimes, it sounds like a piano. Now I can’t get the sound out of my head.
“Sixties Remake” begins with a crackling guitar opening that reminds me of the engine of those motorcycles on the road. As this song progresses and reaches a point where an exclamation of “Hey” can be heard, I already knew that Sixties Remake is one of the tracks that will be my favorite on Elephant Shell. Crunchy guitar is one of the factors that makes Sixties Remake so good. In the chorus, Dave simply says, “Hey! Move your lips, close your eyes… Hey! Move those chains and start a fight, because you got nervous, but we tapped…”. it has to be one of the loudest, crunchy tracks on the album.
“The Harrowing Adventures Of…” makes me think that this is one of the tracks that might be suitable for babies. The xylophone only plays notes that will make all the babies in the world smile when they hear it. It isn’t long before Dave enters the twilight zone over the bay, “The harrowing adventures of you and me when we were captains of submarines made of steel…” When it gets to the point where it sounds like a chorus, the guitar acoustics can be heard playing in a way that blends nicely with Dave’s vocals and the xylophone. Here you can also hear two string instruments that sounded like a cello and a violin. I really didn’t expect that to come, but the Tokyo Police Club surprised me here. The Harrowing Adventures Of… is incredibly cute and cheeky in its own way. It will swallow you slowly.
“Nursery, Academy” is a short rock track that I find Dave singing in different notes in a few minutes. At the beginning, Dave can be heard singing: “I would have come home, I would have come home, it’s bad enough you’re here and it’s worse that you came…” Clever lyrics and thought. This song starts to pick up in no time once the bass kicks in. Keyboardist Graham must have worked very hard here as the keyboard is all over the place with different notes. The Tokyo Police Club is putting a lot of effort into this track to make it sound as good as possible. I can feel that they work very hard on this track.
“Your English Is Good” has the Tokyo Police Club chorus, “Oh, give us your vote, give us your vote, if you know what’s good for you…” before the whole track sounds very crowded as the music rolls in. on the whole . Your English Is Good is cheeky and cute with the keyboard playing on repeat on the same notes throughout the track. Every time the keyboard enters, a smile appears on my face. The Tokyo Police Club also says, “Because your English is good, we can see it in your bones, in this neighborhood, we won’t take you home…” With such a title, Your English Is Good will definitely catch the attention of everyone. attention in the tracklist section. Also, another good thing is the nice keyboard and chorus on this track. Sweet and cute!
“Listen To The Math” has a slow opening where Dave’s voice seems to be the music here. The keyboards and bass add some weight to Dave’s singing when he’s in the second part of the first verse. Once he gets to the chorus, he’s light on the guitar. “It’s a ruse, it’s a laugh, the experts would agree, listen to the math…” Shortly after the chorus, the guitar shifts to a crunchier note that seems to add some extra effects and weight to Listen To. The maths. Another mention is the deep background vocals that come in during the chorus. Just follow Dave’s singing in the background. Listen To The Math can be considered as a ballad that will stick to you like a mushroom after just a few listens.
As the last track on Elephant Shell, “The Baskervilles” has a few moments that stand out. It is worth mentioning the moments of the Tokyo Police Club choruses, which appear in some parts of the song and never fail to create an impact on the listeners. They’d say, “Okay, we’re trying to help…” As we progress through The Baskervilles, the track starts to pick up and the music sounds as upbeat as ever. Guitar and keyboards find their way here. Even near the end, Dave increases his singing pitch, shouting, “A toast to the last of a dying breed, they’re crawling back to bed, they’re going back to sleep” to the very end. A very strong finish by the Tokyo Police Club.