| TOKYO POLICE CLUB | Discography | Touring | Press |
Elephant Shell lands roughly a year and half after the A Lesson In Crime EP and barely three years on from the band's 2005 formation. Said EP A Lesson in Crime was lauded by Rolling Stone: "If only all young guitar bands were smart enough to rock out this fast"; The Guardian: "Short sharp bursts of nonchalant arrogance. Thrilling"; NME: "The most perfect, weirdly askew band the other side of the pond has produced since Pavement"; Pitchfork: "The potential to become a real five-tool player in indie for a long time; Pretty Girls Make Graves agility, Les Savy Fav's curveball, the Strokes' sweet swing-there's no questioning the latent talent here". It would go on to sell over 70,000 copies - probably about 69,000 more than the band were expecting. Not bad for four kids who self taught during senior year at high school.
Following the release of A Lesson in Crime the band set about tearing round the world in a beat up transit, touring the US four times in '07 playing variously with Cold War Kids and Bloc Party, selling out two headline shows at El Rey and three nights at the Bowery Ballroom and standing out as highlights of Lollapalooza and Coachella. In the UK they sold out their first headline tour in seconds and owned the John Peel stage at Glastonbury and the new bands tents at Reading/Leeds.
David Monks, lead singer/bassist, described A Lesson in Crime at the time of release as "wide-eyed post-punk with a tendency to get over excited" - Elephant Shell is built on the same rapid-fire foundations of their previous work but is now built high with corridors of soaring sonic invention. Elephant Shell delivers on every bit of promise of A Lesson in Crime. The opening one-two rapid-fire salvo of "Centennial" and "In A Cave" barely evaporates before "Graves" and "Juno" pack innumerable hooks and "what-does-that-remind-me-of" glimmers into taut 2-minute-and-change frameworks, while "Tessellate" and "Sixties Remake" encapsulate everything great about the manic Tokyo Police Club live experience: soaring guitar signatures and keyboard figures, driving backbeats and irresistible sing-along's abound. Elsewhere, "The Harrowing Adventures Of..." and the dubbed out standout "Listen To The Math" find our young protagonists stretching out, hinting at a new-found maturity, ably adapting their energy into more subdued structures before the rousing coda of "The Baskervilles" brings the record to a shuddering halt.
Unsurprisingly, after finishing the album in early 2008, Tokyo Police Club are on the road, round the world - see dates below
Note: the first pressing of the UK version of the album includes a bonus disc of various remixes plus UK only original recordings Friends of P and New New Song
Check out the band on myspace here.
And band website here.
ELEPHANT SHELL ALBUM - OUT 5 MAY 2008
1. Centennial
2. In A Cave(CLICK TO LISTEN)
3. Graves
4. Juno
5. Tessellate
6. Sixties Remake
7. The Harrowing Adventures Of...
8. Nursery Academy
9. Your English Is Good
10. Listen To The Math
11. The Baskervilles
CD2.
1. Centennial (Dntel Remix)
2. Tessellate by (Tom Campesinos! Remix)
3. Nursery, Academy ( Flower Forever Remix)
4. Listen to the Math (The Good Life Remix)
5. Tessellate (Field Music Remix)
6. Friends of P (exclusive UK only track)
7. New New Song (exclusive UK only track)
Get from Amazon here, Play here
and Memphis here
IN A CAVE - OUT 23 JUNE 2008
B. Graves
Get the 7" from Memphis here Get from itunes with exclusive RAC remix from here
TESSELLATE SINGLE - OUT 21 APRIL 2008
B. Tessellate (Los Campesinos! Remix)
Get from Memphis here
Your English is Good - Single - OUT 09 July 2007 ON 7" and Digital
B. Swedes in Stockholm
Watch the video here:
Buy from our shop here.
A LESSON IN CRIME - MINI ALBUM - OUT 12 FEB 2007 ON CD and Digital
2. Nature Of The Experiment
3. Citizens Of Tomorrow
4. Shoulders And Arms
5. If It Works
6. Cut Cut Paste
7. Be Good
8. La Ferrassie
Here's the video to Citizens of Tomorrow:
CHEER IT ON - SINGLE - OUT 5 FEB 2007 ON 7" and Digital
B.Citizens of Tomorrow (Space Ballad Version)
Here's the award winning North American video to Cheer it On:
Watch the nonaward winning UK video:
NATURE OF THE EXPERIMENT - SINGLE - OUT 20 NOVEMBER 2006 ON 7" and Digital
A. Nature of the Experiment
B.Box
Watch the video here:
PRESS
"This blogger approved Toronto quartet has the potential to become a real five-tool player in indie for a long time; Pretty Girls Make Graves' agility, Les Savy Fav's curveball, the Strokes' sweet swing-- there's no questioning the latent talent here". Pitchforkmedia
"Short sharp bursts of nonchallant arrogance. Thrilling". Guardian
"The most perfect weirdly askew band the other side of the pond has produced since pavement" 8/10 NME
UPCOMING TOURING
05 Jul 2008 Roskilde Festival Roskilde
08 Jul 2008 Ottawa Blues Fest Ottawa, Ontario
09 Jul 2008 Espace 400 - La Grande Scene Quebec City, Quebec
19 Jul 2008 Summersonic Festival Halifax, Nova Scotia
20 Jul 2008 Rogers Picnic Toronto, Ontario
24 Jul 2008 Hammer Museum Los Angeles, California
29 Jul 2008 Ding Dong Lounge Melbourne, Victoria
31 Jul 2008 The Zoo Brisbaine, Queensland
02 Aug 2008 Splendour in the Grass Byron Bay, New South Wales
05 Aug 2008 Oxford Art Factory Sydney, New South Wales
09 Aug 2008 Summersonic Tokyo
21 Aug 2008 ULU London, London and South East
14 Sep 2008 Monolith Festival Red Rocks, Colorado
18 Sep 2008 Henry Fonda Theatre Los Angeles, California
20 Sep 2008 Street Scene Festival San Diego, California
21 Sep 2008 Treasure Island Music Festival San Francisco, California
18 Oct 2008 Webster Hall New York, New York
25 Oct 2008 Voodoo Music Festival New Orleans, Louisiana
OLD TOURING
18 Mar 2008 Call The Office, London, Ontario
19 Mar 2008 Birdy’s Bar and GrillIndianapolis, Indiana
20 Mar 2008 Jackpot Saloon, Lawrence, Kansas
22 Mar 2008 Kilby CourtSalt Lake City, Utah
24 Mar 2008 The IndependentSan Francisco, California
25 Mar 2008 Glass House, Pomona, California
26 Mar 2008 Troubadour (SOLD OUT)Los Angeles, California
27 Mar 2008 The Troubadour [2nd night added]West Hollywood, California
28 Mar 2008 Soma, San Diego, California
29 Mar 2008 Clubhouse, Tempe, Arizona
31 Mar 2008 Meridian Red Room, Houston, Texas
01 Apr 2008 Cambridge Room House of Blues, Dallas, Texas
03 Apr 2008 Club Downunder, Tallahassee, Florida
04 Apr 2008 Studio A, Miami, Florida
05 Apr 2008 Backbooth, Oralando, Florida
07 Apr 2008 40 Watt Club, Athens, Georgia
08 Apr 2008 Exit/In, Nashville, Tennessee
09 Apr 2008 The Spot (Case Western University), Cleveland, Ohio
18 Apr 2008 Barrymore’s Music Hall, Ottawa, Ontario
19 Apr 2008 Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire, Montreal, Quebec
20 Apr 2008 Bowery Ballroom (SOLD OUT), New York,
21 Apr 2008 Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York
22 Apr 2008 Bowery Ballroom [2nd night added], New York,
24 Apr 2008 Paradise Rock Club, Boston, Massachusetts
26 Apr 2008 Pearl Street Night Club, Northampton, Massachusetts
28 Apr 2008 First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
29 Apr 2008 Black Cat, Washington, DC,
30 Apr 2008 Big Orbit’s Soundlab, Buffalo, New York
04 May 2008 Magic Stick, Detroit, Michigan
05 May 2008 Metro, Chicago, Illinois
06 May 2008 Varsity Theatre, Minneapolis, Minnesota
08 May 2008 Garrick’s Theatre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
09 May 2008 Louis’ Pub, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
10 May 2008 The Warehouse, Calgary, Alberta
12 May 2008 The Starlite Room, Edmonton, Alberta
16 May 2008 Plaza Club, Vancouver, British Columbia
17 May 2008 Sugar Nightclub, Victoria, British Columbia
18 May 2008 Neumos, Seattle, Washington
19 May 2008 Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon
22 May 2008 Bluebird Theatre, Denver, Colorado
23 May 2008 Slowdown, Omaha, Nebraska
29 May 2008 Cambridge, Barfly
30 May 2008 Nottingham, Bodega
31 May 2008 Leeds, Cockpit
01 Jun 2008 Manchester, Night N Day
03 Jun 2008 Birmingham, Barfly
05 Jun 2008 Brussels, Botanique
06 Jun 2008 DENürburg, Rock Am Ring
07 Jun 2008 DENürnberg, Rock Im Park
08 Jun 2008 Paris, La Maroquinerie
10 Jun 2008 Glasgow, King Tuts
11 Jun 2008 Newcastle, Other Rooms
12 Jun 2008 Oxford, Academy
13 Jun 2008 Hertford, Marquee
14 Jun 2008 Den Haag, Music In My Head Fest
16 Jun 2008 Brighton, Digital
17 Jun 2008 Bristol, Thekla
18 Jun 2008 London, Scala