Who: Tokyo Police Club, a Toronto quartet who played to audiences at the Coachella, Lollapalooza and Glastonbury festivals before they turned twenty-one or even released their debut album.
Sounds Like: Too poppy to be post-punk but too clean to be garage-rock, TPC marry bright keyboards and the buoyant voice of singer/bassist Dave Monk into perfect danceable two-minute tunes on their debut album Elephant Shell.
Vital Stats:
• After ten years of friendship, TPC decided to start a band after seeing Radiohead live in 2001, even though no one at the time knew how to play any instruments. "I taught myself how to sing," says Monks. "I was tone-deaf until I was 15."
• Between their debut EP A Lesson in Crime and their album Elephant Shell, the band has crammed nineteen songs into only forty-four minutes. "It's just a product of our attention span," says guitarist Josh Hook.
• Instead of hanging out in bars and strip clubs like other bands their age, the band frequents bookstores and art galleries. "The quirky-hipster part of the music industry is really starting to bug me," keyboardist Graham Wright jokes. "But the quirky-hipster part of the book industry is pretty great."
Hear It Now: Elephant Shell is in stores and at digital music services now. Click above to check out the band performing an unplugged version of their song "Graves" exclusively for RollingStone.com.
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- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.
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Michelle | June 5, 2008 4:03 PM
I heard one of their older albums not too long ago. It was pretty good. Much better then the shit bands are putting out now a days.
I haven't had the chance to hear their new stuff though. People don't seemed to be too please with it.
pavlo | May 29, 2008 10:59 PM
Frickin amazing band and from newmarket! Well deserved hype.
Really nice guys too.
Ariana | May 29, 2008 3:31 PM
I LOVE TPC!!!
I have seen them live and met them all.... they were all really wicked people, and a great live band!!
Its Nice to see they are getting some well deserved press time!!
Nice one Rolling Stone ;)
S | May 29, 2008 2:28 PM
I really like this band's sound... my musical tastes are really all over the place but I have been listening to a lot of Eric Solomon lately- he is amazing!!
WIl Hammer | May 29, 2008 11:49 AM
I find the new record a departure in a great way. i think it would have been worse if they made the new record into basically a lesson in crime the full length version. I also met them briefly awhile back - furthest thing from stuck up!!
sydvicious | May 29, 2008 9:33 AM
I really like ..........
great voice from the singer .............want to see that front the audience .......
Odelayer | May 29, 2008 9:10 AM
i agree somewhat. when i first heard "A Lesson in Crime" and "Box EP", i got this vibe of energy that was true and raw indie rock. this new album seems to be a departure from that sound to a more sensitive and more serious tone. In my opinion, they seemed to try to make "nature of the experiment" for every song and completely forgot about songs like "cheer it on". still, the fact remains that they are solid band that deserves credit.
Honest Human | May 29, 2008 12:19 AM
I don't know, i used to like them, but they are like seeming to turn into huge fruits or something or maybe they always were and i just didnt know. Like don't get me wrong , they are doing really well for themselves and write alot better music than alot of bands out there today, but like fuck it, i dont know. It;s jsut me i guess i find them like right annoying or something, like theyre little stuck up hipsters or something, maybe i'm sooo totally wrong but whateveer fck it
Odelayer | May 28, 2008 10:45 PM
It's weird that this band is becoming so big (in indie terms) when I saw them live a couple of years ago in a venue about the size of my flat. i'm glad they are getting the recognition they deserve.