Tokyo Police Club, A Lesson in Crime

A volatile musical adventure through interplanetary influences such as David Bowie and Radiohead, Tokyo Police Club makes their first mark on the new millennium with their new CD, A Lesson in Crime, making futuristic indie-rock hip once again. Listen to the Tokyo Police Club, and they might remind you of the Decemberists, Arcade Fire, or The Killers. Hell, they might very well be almost inseparable from the multitude of indie-rock bands that have capitalized on the trend of new millennium rock. I mean, with all of the ingredients here in such good measure, buy A Lesson in Crime and you might as well be buying a modern-day Clear Channel Big Mac.

Tokyo Police Club’s four members play in perfectly measured synchronicity, balanced between mellow atmospherics and excitement. Singer/bassist Dave Monks splits the two sides of the band between his vocals, which he drones in disenfranchised wonder, and his bass playing, which seems relatively aggressive. Meanwhile, guitarist Josh Hook interweaves slow, progressive melodies through the tapestry of Graham Wright’s atmospheric keyboards like a fast jet flying through low-lying smog. The drums, played by Greg Alsop, are balanced between a kind of Britpop staccato and simple rock riffs, creating a mixture of suspense and propulsion. All together, the group’s subtle and refined style brings with it many explosive moments on A Lesson in Crime.

Unfortunately, this album lacks individuality and daring. While Tokyo Police Club rides the waves of fortune that have brought numerous indie-rock bands to the forefront over the past decade, with A Lesson in Crime, they have stolen too much from their predecessors and contemporaries, creating an amalgam of benign indie clichés.