Bang! Strum! Shout!

I’m a Virgin Mobile Insider. What’s that mean? I’m supposed to give my phone company, Virgin Mobile, feedback and do stuff for them. Do I? Well, I’ve had bigger fish to fry in my life than do their marketing for them. Don’t get me wrong – I love Virgin Mobile, even if I don’t get service at my house and would actually have to walk about 100 yards to the west in order to get any, but I’m not stuck in a contract paying $40 a month. I wouldn’t have a phone that way.

Why do I bring this up? Well, you see a few weeks ago Virgin Mobile sent me a CD - Tokyo Police Club’s A Lesson In Crime - and I had no idea why. I’m not one to knock free stuff, but I looked around and realized they send out a CD of the month. Cool. I have a vague feeling I’ve heard of Tokyo Police Club somewhere, but for the life of me I can’t remember where. So, what do they have to offer? Let’s find out.

For starters, here’s who you’ll find in the band: Greg Alsop (drums), Joshua Hook (guitar), David Monks (voice, bass), Graham Wright (keyboards, voice). I have no idea which guy is doing all the lead vocals – it could easily be either guy. Whoever is the “second” voice, so to speak, he’s more like a faint yelling in the background. Each of these songs is ridiculously short, totaling the CD up at a whopping 16 minutes, 22 seconds. Riiiight. Another interesting tidbit of info? This bit of oddness was made in Canada – while I don’t know if all the guys are Canadian, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be. Interesting.

1.) Cheer It On – 1:59 For the love of all that is good and decent – keep your volume down. If not, this may hurt your ears. Whichever guy is singing this time around, he doesn’t seem to be in synch in any shape or form with whatever the band happens to be singing. It seems more like a weird intro than anything – short and I keep hearing “Tokyo Police Club!” It sort of grates on the ears – not a good way to start out.

2.) Nature of the Experiment – 2:01 I’m thinking the weird sound is supposed to be the keyboard – guess it’s programmed on a different sound or something. Very vibratey. Again, not impressed. Everything even remotely related to harmony seems off. Dissonance. Discord. Maybe it’s on purpose?

3.) Citizens of Tomorrow – 2:44 Faint rhythmic clapping starts this one out and things stay even for a bit before going back into the louder stuff, though this isn’t as crazy rockin’ as the others. One of the mellow songs. But I don’t know – the high pitched sharp notes hurt the ears and the guys are just spouting stuff that I’m hardly even paying attention to because I’m so distracted by the instrumentation.

4.) Shoulders & Arms – 2:38 Oh boy, more discord. Have I mentioned yet that the lead singer’s voice isn’t exactly fabulous either? Half the time he’s not really singing so much as half singing, half talking. I don’t even know how to describe this music…

5.) If It Works – 2:04 Ok, this is maybe like they threw this all together at the last minute – I’m really having a hard time understanding the deal here. The keyboard is part organ now, guitar still squeaking away. Drums being smacked all over the place. Cymbals crashing – er, and now the song is over.

6.) Be Good – 2:04 More of the same. The singer is slower, the song is at a medium pace, but the guitar is absolutely going nuts. That’s actually a little impressive, but that’s essentially all the song is – casual singing and psychotic guitar.

7.) La Ferrassie – 2:49 Slower, some semi-high pitched humming in the background – think along the lines of wind blowing through a crack in the door. A little eerie. A slower song – or was. It just decided to kick it up a notch into the area of “much faster” and now it’s just like all the other songs, except for the wind part.

I’m not sure what to do about this CD. I have no idea what to classify it as. It very vaguely reminds me of the Pixies with “Where Is My Mind?” However, they’re much more like the Strokes if you’re familiar with that band. I get the feeling that somewhere there is a group of people that would love this CD – it would be perfect for them. It’s the kind of music that the populace doesn’t get into all that much, but that has a small cult following. Still, I’d like you to keep in mind something – I listen to just about everything under the sun. I have everything from Irish folk music to Xzibit to soundtracks to Nickelback to a few random country songs and plenty of stuff from my parents’ era (REO Speedwagon, Kenny Loggins, etc.). I listen to everything. I just have to like it, and I have a very open mind. This…mmm…not so much.

The weird thing is that it’s not necessarily bad. I know, it sounds weird, but hear me out. Notwithstanding whoever is on lead vocals (it doesn’t say anywhere on the CD), the instrument players have some talent. On one hand, this whole thing might be their style. This might be what they’re going for. Granted, I don’t think it’s going to get them very far, but you never know. But it feels a lot more like a group’s first album – still unfocused, has yet to find their true sound, and is still struggling a little. I remember hearing on of Korn’s first songs and not liking it because it felt the same way. A few albums later they were a hit; they had their sound, each band member was in better synch with the other, and now they’re just find and dandy, putting albums out at a steady pace, me enjoying them, etc. I am willing to give these guys the benefit of the doubt.

All that aside, I get the impression they were striving for at least Average, and they have barely made it. I recommend it, but tentatively. Be sure you know what you like before rushing out and buying it. Personally I think the boys still need to please drive through and try again. Better luck next time.

NT