Tokyo Police Club - A Lesson In Crime

I’m sitting in my dark living room, typing this on a foreign Power Book, minus internet. Background information is essential for me, when diving into a new band; however, tonight Tokyo Police Club is pumping through my ear canals, and I know little about them. I am completely outside of my comfort zone. I know they are slowly rising to the top of the musical food chain, and I’m almost positive they are from New York (wrong it's Toronto), but outside of that it’s just me and A Lesson In Crime. Mano-a-mano.

It doesn’t take these boys too long to establish their presence in the room with “Cheer It On.” The Tokyo Police Club seem to be everywhere, and they enjoy rewriting history in order to make our lives more painless. They’ll “cut out all the sad parts” of your morning paper, and “arrest you for being in love.” Don’t worry though, because they have our best interest in mind.

The band is merely an observer of this (not so distant) future, and take on the task of telling the story. The album is comprised of seven unique experiences that piece together into one disillusioned vision. Each song is a lightning-flash image of a dreary tomorrow, and the tale ends within fifteen minutes.

It’s a warning siren that you can dance to.

In terms of innovation, TPC doesn’t have much to show for themselves; however, they’re just so damn good at fusing every aspect of independent music. “Citizens of Tomorrow” was the first song that drew me to TPC, but I’m still not sure how to feel about it. It’s so perfect… almost too perfect. The hand claps, and crowd shouts are so effective. The emotional reaction they evoke feels on par with brilliantly placed mood music in a film. I can’t decide if I’m being manipulated or if it’s genius. Either way, I swim through the world of 2009 every time I hear it.

I hope these two tracks help convince you to buy A Lesson In Crime.

[mp3] Tokyo Police Club – Cheer It On
[mp3] Tokyo Police Club – Citizens of Tomorrow