TOKYO POLICE CLUB, SMOOSH, WE BARBARIANS
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th) After months of waiting, Tokyo Police Club finally released their debut full-length (and first release on Saddle Creek), Elephant Shell, in April and well… it doesn’t quite live up to the expectations set by their early EPs. It’s not a bad album, really, but somewhere along the way, TPC’s endearing rough edges were sanded away, leaving a smooth, poppy nugget where there was once a raw, post-punky slab. For their efforts they’ll probably earn a few more soundtrack and TV spots, but for fans of the unpolished TPC, they’ll have to make do with the band’s live performance, which thankfully avoids having too much sheen. Instead, all of the promise of the band’s early obsession with dystopian robot takeovers remains intact, even when supplemented with new songs about tessellating broken hearts. DONTE PARKS

MP3:
Tokyo Police Club - Juno

Photo: Chris Schmelke