May 20, 2008
Tokyo Police Club Underwhelms @ Neumo's
It's easy to be a snarky critic, but really, could Tokyo Police Club have been more over-hyped? Standing inside the sticky heat at Neumo's for a sold-out show on Sunday (which nevertheless felt a bit empty after Smoosh finished their opening set), we were at first a bit curious how a band whose debut LP Elephant Swell had been out all of three weeks could afford a reasonably classy (if utterly uninspired) LED stage set. Then they began to play, and we started to wonder what it is about Pitchfork and rest of the indie-rock, SXSW-obsessed crowd that gets their panties in a twist over a band that sounds like they started out aiming for Built to Spill but landed somewhere between Weezer and The Strokes. "Post-punk" is the label most often affixed to these Canadian rockers, which is apparently short-hand for: "They have long, drone-y, bass-heavy interludes between bleeding guitar/keyboard melody explosions, so that we can clearly hear the lead-singer's yearning, garbled singing." It's not that they're not a tight outfit or that they don't manage a few catchy hooks, but what's there to be so excited about over another band churning out an album of single-ready, three-minute pop songs?
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well, yeah. but if you don't like well-made not entirely predictable three minute pop songs then why go see tokyo police club?
there hasn't been anything all that interesting to come out in the last decade... these jokers sound like muse on heroin.
I didn't go to this show, but I've enjoyed Tokyo Police Club's performances in the past, especially when they only had the two EPs and could play their entire discography in 30 minutes. As long as they're singing about robots, I'm happy.
everyone's entitled to their opinion, but i was at this show and have to say i beg to differ.
first, some background. yes, tpc's debut album just came out, but they've been around for around two years, working the festival circuit and touring like crazy on the strength of their debut ep and live show.
yes, they do short, catchy pop songs, but hell, what's the problem with that? that's WHAT THEY DO (and they do it better than most, hence the hype). i don't even like the new album, but was at the show because their live show is still the best way to experience them. as josh mentions over on metblogs, you'd be hard pressed to find a more enthusiastic keyboardist or more energetic tambourine playing.
as for why it felt empty, that'd be because neumos is having issues with the fire marshall, so their capacity is effectively cut until they work that out.
Who doesn't fall between Weezer and the Strokes these days? The whole indie scene needs more rock, the timid sea of sameness has been annoying for a while now.
Sadly, I have to side with jwhieger on this one: more rock is needed. I'm not sure how saying that TPC's album was a disappointment compared to the earlier EPs is an argument that they weren't over-hyped (a failure to meet expectations that in retrospect were set far too high?), and as for the combo argument that their performances are so good that it makes up for the fact that they only produce catchy jingles...surely a three-minute pop song is so simple that we'd just expect them to play it competently?
Oh, and the Neumo's fire code thing: true enough, I could have mistaken that. I was upstairs for both performances and found it emptier during Tokyo Police Club, so either drinkers migrated to the all-ages floor, or a number of adults were there only for Smoosh. Which, in retrospect, seems a little gross.