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“Tokyo Police Club” are a four-piece Canadian indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario. Tokyo Police Club were formed in 2005 and they are Dave Monks (Vocals and Bass), Josh Hook (Guitar), Graham Wright (Keyboards) and Greg Alsop (Drums). Their musical genres are mainly indie rock, garage rock and post-punk revival. 

Elephant Shell has a good opening with “Centennial”. In the few seconds upon opening, you can hear the sound of a malfunctioned robot. The robot might be stuck or jammed somewhere, i thought to myself. Shortly, the draggy keyboard and Dave Monks just come in. Centennial is not a fast tempo track, but the guitar and bass seem to be able to work this track out. In the bridge, handclaps joining by keyboard, just come in for a brief second. And that might be one of the best moments on Centennial. At the end, i like Dave Monks goes, “I’m only wishing well, though you won’t believe me, this coming Thursday evening, is our centennial…” and succeeded by wedding-like keyboard. A short opening, but i’m convinced to find out more about Tokyo Police Club. 

“In A Cave” starts with guitar that comes in from afar before joining by In A Cave’s core bassline. Before Dave comes in, the music is already really good. When it comes to the chorus where Dave again goes, “All my hair grows in, wrinkles leave my skin, but still, don’t fade… I’ll be back again when the tide is in some day…”, the keyboard suddenly enters and the rest of Tokyo Police Club can be heard helping Dave out in the background. The second verse gets even fiercer with the guitar and bass, but somehow it’s not loud. It still manages to sound light and effortless. The best bet on In A Cave is definitely the remaining 1 minute after the second chorus. Dave just struts his stuff, “Elephant shell, you’re my cave and I’ve been hiding out, will you tell me a little bit about, a bit about yourself?” and joining him are the guitar, bass, drums and keyboard which play in notes that we first heard in the beginning. Only this time, Tokyo Police Club add some magic to it! Impressive stuff by Tokyo Police Club here! 

From the lyrics of “Graves”, it sounds like a script of a horror movie. “Pack your ashes pack a watch, change of clothes and a face cloth, meet me where your mother lies, we’ll dig graves on both her sides…” The guitar keeps playing in a loop once Graves opens before the drums, bass and keyboard come in all together. A sudden adrenaline rush! Graves is one of those tracks that don’t really have a chorus and relies on the music to drag it or make it a longer track. After Dave’s vocals on the second verse, it feels like Tokyo Police Club are having a short break by playing the music. They really do have a strong liking for keyboards. Nearing the end, Dave just sing to the end accompanied by a howl-like sound that comes on and off. 

“Juno” has some drum beats going on. As Dave sings in the chorus, it looks like there’s a sound in the background which i think is produced by the instrument Xylophone, adding some Christmas feel to it. Reaching the chorus, Juno seems to be turning to keyboard to go along with Dave’s vocals, “You and your soapy eyes, called it off so late at night, but your hand’s on your heart, because your head’s always right…” The Xylophone also plays its part here on a few notes that really complement the chorus. As Juno goes on, it ends on a sudden and tired note, “Juno, you’re tired…” But i’m just getting started to know Tokyo Police Club. 

“Tessellate” has some high and sharp pitched guitar in the beginning. Just as Dave sings each phrase of the verse, the keyboards which possess some catchy ingredients just come in at the right time to make sure we as listeners are having a good time listening to Tessellate. In the chorus, Dave sings with his already-known voice, “… Dead lovers salivate, broken hearts tessellate tonight…” Tokyo Police Club show some effort here by adding hand claps along side to Dave’s voice. The real deal on Tessellate is definitely the sound of the keyboard which always never fails to capture my attention as it’s too good. And at times, it sounds like a piano. Now i just can’t get the sound of it off my head. 

“Sixties Remake” kicks off with some crunchy guitar opening that reminds me of those motorcycles engine on the highway. As this song goes and reaches a point where an exclaimation of “Hey” can be heard, i already knew Sixties Remake is one of the tracks that is going to be my favourite on Elephant Shell. The crunchy guitar is one of the factors that keeps Sixties Remake so good. In the chorus, Dave just goes, “Hey! Bat your lips, shut your eyes… Hey! Swing those chains, and start a fight, because you’ve got nerve, but we’ve got tapped…” This has got to be one of the loudest and crunchiest tracks on the album. 

“The Harrowing Adventures Of…” has me thinking that this is one of the tracks that might be suitable for babies. The xylophone just plays in notes that will make all babies in the world smile upon listening to it. It’s not long before Dave enters the bay twilight zone, “The harrowing adventures of, you and I when we were captains of, submarines made of steel…” When it got to the point that sounds like a chorus, acoustic guitar can be heard playing in a way that blend in so well with the vocals of Dave and xylophone. Two string instruments which sounded like a cello and a violin can also be heard here. I really didn’t expect that to come, but Tokyo Police Club surprise me here. The Harrowing Adventures Of… is undefiantly cute and cheeky in its own way. It will gulp you down slowly. 

“Nursery, Academy” is a short rock track that i find Dave sings on different notes in a few minutes. In the beginning, Dave can be heard singing, “I would’ve gone back home, i would’ve gone back home, it’s bad enough you’re here and it’s worse that you’ve come along…” Smart lyrics i thought. This song begins to pick up in a short while once the bass comes in. Keyboardist Graham must have worked very hard here as the keyboard is all over the place with different notes. Tokyo Police Club are trying very hard on this track to make it sounds as good as possible. I can feel that they work very hard on this track. 

“Your English Is Good” has Tokyo Police Club choiring, “Oh, give us your vote, give us your vote, if you know what’s good for you…” before the whole track sounds very full as the music comes in all together. Your English Is Good is cheeky and cute with the keyboard playing in repetition in the same notes throughout the track. Everytime the keyboard enters, a smile appears on my face. Tokyo Police Club also go together with, “Because your English is good, we can see it in your bones, in this neighborhood, we ain’t driving you home…” With such title, Your English Is Good will definitely catch everyone’s attention in the tracklist section. Plus another good thing is the cute keyboard and choir that are in this track. Sweet and cute! 

“Listen To The Math” has a slow opening where Dave’s voice seems to be the music here. The keyboards and bass add some weight to Dave’s singing as he’s into the second part of the first verse. Once it gets to the chorus, it feels light with the guitar. “It’s a ruse, it’s a laugh, experts they’d agree, listen to the math…” Shortly after the chorus, the guitar switches to a chrunchier note that seems to be able to add some extra effects and weights to Listen To The Math. Another mention is the deep background voice that comes in during the chorus. It just follows Dave’s singing in the background. Listen To The Math can regarded as a ballad that will stick to you like a fungus after a few listenes. 

As the last track on Elephant Shell, “The Baskervilles” has some moments on it that stands out. The choiring moments by Tokyo Police Club is worth mentioning and appear on some parts of the song and never fail to create an impact on the listeners. They would go, “Alright, we tried to help…” As we get further into The Baskervilles, the track starts to pick up and the music just sounds as lively as ever. The guitar and keyboards work their way out here. Even nearing the end, Dave increases his singing tone and yell, “A toast to the last of a dying breed, they’re crawling back to bed, they’re falling back to sleep” to the end. A very strong finish by Tokyo Police Club. 

Cheers! 
Darren Tan
Indiesurf.com

“The Explorers Club” are a six-piece Sunshine Psychedelic (indie pop/rock) band from Charleston, South Carolina. Their music is almost entirely influenced by the vocal hormany styles of the then famous The Beach Boys and brings back the 60s and 70s atmosphere to their music. The Explorers Club are made up of Jason Brewer (Vocals, Guitar and Piano), James Faust (Vocals, Guitar, Piano and Harmonica), David Ellis (Vocals, 12 String Guitar and Accordian), Wally Reddington (Vocals and Bass), Stefan Rogenmoser (Keyboard, Organ and Synthesizers) and Neil Thomas (Drums). In an honourable way, the band also continues to carry on the style and sound of The Beach Boys. On Television, their music has been featured on TV shows such as The O.C. and How I Met Your Mother.

Freedom Wind by The Explorers Club is full of beautiful vocals and it’ll surround you with or even bring you back to the 60s and 70s pop/rock music. Think of their vocals, only vocals, there would be a perfect Acapella performance with you always if you let them to…

Freedom Wind by The Explorers Club awed us with the beautiful vocal “Forever”. The moment Jason sang, “She’s the kind of girl who’s in my thought, all night…”, along with James, David and Wally. It was really awesome! I can’t find the right word to describe it, but it was really good. The music in Forever was equally good as well, the organ, the guitar and the drums… It was like you were listening to the most beautiful and sweetest sound in the world. Throughout the whole track, the backing vocals done by The Explorers Club, if it’s not breathtaking, then i don’t know what else to day. Forever will definitely stay in my Ipod for a long long time to come.

“Honey, I Don’t Know Why” was at times funny and yet good. Sung in a husky and rough voice but backing by cute music and harmonized vocals. One can’t help but smile when this song comes up. I bet children will try to imitate the voice of Jason in Honey, I Don’t Know Why. Even myself tried to imitate his voice due to my curiousity of finding out how Jason did that rough voice. The Explorers Club did a very good job when the break came, they went, “Mmm Bap Baby…” and Jason was doing a solo singing in the background. Talk about harmony vocals? The Explorers Club got style!

“Don’t Forget The Sun” was another song made to show The Explorers Club’s talent and forte. Jason sang a few words, the rest of The Explorers Club follow suit, in an alternate way. Don’t Forget The Sun is definitely one of the best tracks on Freedon Wind. It has this beat and tempo that is just nice for everyone to enjoy and indulge, and it’s really catchy, infectious and soothing! The best part is when they went, “I wish that summer could stay on for one more hour, i wish that summer sun would last the whole year on..” It just so good! I’m beginning to imagine seeing them performing live at a beach. It would be a blast!

“Lost My Head” has a funny start to it. There was a guy saying, “You guys are ready to lay down some tracks?” in a somewhat drunken voice that some may find it to be amusing. Not only that, there were two parts in Lost My Head, one is slow where you can hear Jason’s and co’s voice, the other sounds like a banjo or some chinese intrument which is called pipa. When Jason and co sing, the banjo and pipa will follow. Lost My Head is rather quiet and not many musical instruments can be heard. But it doesn’t matter, The Explorers Club are able to leave us in awe again with their angelic vocals.

What can i say about “Do You Love Me?”. It’s really a track with some catchy backing vocals and great teamwork by displayed by The Explorers Club. Do You Love Me? is a very simple track, what catches our attention is the hormonized and lively vocals. An acapella version of this lovely song would definitely sounds as good as the recording version, or it might even be better. If you’re thinking of singing a song to your loved one with the help of your buddies, think no further than Do You Love Me? It’s such a fun and romantic song. There are some saxaphone elements in this song as well. Really awesome stuff by The Explorers Club.

“Summer Air” is pure instrumental and i got to say it’s really good as well. The organ can be heard playing in a variety of constant rhythm and beats. Not only that, the synthesizers were used to add in some soundscape to make if fuller, as if someone were singing in Summer Air. But the fact is, this song is just pure instrumental. Perhaps The Explorers Club are taking a short break from all the vocals that they were doing. Just kidding.

“If You Go” is romantic and at times, i can feel the sorrow in Jason’s voice. When Jason breaks the bassline and sings, “If you go now, i won’t shed a tear, cause maybe somehow, our love will reappear…” his voice sort of makes me squirm. It’s a broken heart love song and Jason did a very good job on the vocal. Take note at the break where a short session of deep guitar can be heard and followed by some soothing vocals, “I woke up, i thought i heard you called my name…”. It’s all like a dream…

“In The Country” is a slow cozy feeling classical pop tune. The vocals provided by The Explorers club are really good here. The chorus especially, which goes, “You’re my girl and i won’t let you go, cause all your loves are good for my soul…” All of them give a really good listen here. It’s like listening to a group of choir. Guess when you’re good at something, you’ll always be that good when doing it. In The Country has elements of country genre in it, reminding me of some great cowboy movies.

“Safe Distance” is an acoustic song, almost appearing in Acapella version. The Explorers Club displayed their great talent again with their vocal harmonies. The music in this song is mostly created by the vocals. From the lyrics, i can only guess that Safe Distance tells the story of protecting someone from harm and danger. Great work as a band!

“Hold Me Tight” starts off slow with Jason leading the vocal and the rest of The Explorers Club add in some beautiful moans and hums. When the chorus comes, the whole song suddenly jumps into a new gear, from the second gear to the fourth gear. The tempo picks up and the beat sounds faster and richer. You can hear Jason goes, “I just wanna hold you tight, hold you walk through the night… Love nobody…” Hold Me Tight is a happy and romantic pop rock tune! You got to love it!

“Last Kiss” reminds me of Elvis Presley’s rock and roll! You can have fun and dance to Last Kiss in a party. Jason and his co take turn to sing in this soft version of rock and roll. “If i remember our first kiss (last kiss) forever…”, when Jason sings this chorus, it’s like his second voice is taking over. He sounded like a girl, and it’s really good. Bear in mind, it’s not easy to do so.

The title track, “Freedom Wind” produces an anthemic closing to this album. This is the first time on the album that Jason did the singing almost all by himself. The rest of The Explorers Club only focus more on the music.. Organs, guitars, drums.. Like all other anthems, it ended on a strong note, before fading into utter silence. Freedom Wind brings me back to the past and the organ in Freedom Wind reminds me of Fastball’s “The Way”. There are just some resemblance in it. It proves that The Explorers Club’s Jason also can be a stand-alone frontman if he wishes to, he’s got the voice.

Rating: Freedom Wind proved to be a success and 60s pop/rock music has never sounded so good. The Explorers Club has finally found a sound of their own and create magic with it. Impressing people with their layers of harmony vocals, i feel peace when listening to The Explorers Club. I feel good now and then, and the ability of bringing me back to the 60s and 70s, plus a couple of beautiful composed and sung love songs, the modern love songs nowadays are in a serious threat. It’s a matter of time before the new generation will start to notice The Explorers Club. I have noticed them, spin their record, being awed by them, tell my friends about them and many more. Freedom Wind is really good, i’m really looking forward to their next album. I’d give them 7.0 out of 10.

Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Forever, Don’t Forget The Sun, Do You Love Me?, If You Go, Hold Me Tight and Last Kiss. Cheers! Darren Tan Indiesurf.com

Math and Physics Club are an indie pop (Or Indie Rock) band based in Seattle, Washington. They are Charles Bert (Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Kevin Emerson (Drums), Ethan Jones (Bass/Keyboards), James Werle (Lead Guitar), and Saundrah Humphrey (Violin). They were formed in 2004, and have released three EPs and one full length album through Santa Barbara-based Matinee Recordings. Their genre also includes twee, and according to PitchforkMedia, their music were described as “music to hold hands to.” Suitable for most lovey dovey couple!

Math and Physics Club is so fun to listen to. You could listen to the voice of Charles all day and enjoy the music at the same time. No complaints about his voice (and the rest of Math and Physics Club) and the simplicity of their music, and yet impressive songs and lyrics has left a vivid mark on my mind.

The album opens with “Darling, Please Come Home” which is such an infectious track that i think it’s one of the best tracks on the album. The guitar of this track keeps repeating in a tempo and pace that is so friendly to our ears and i can’t help it but mocking to play a guitar whenever i listen to this song. When Charles sings, “Darling won’t you please come home…” I knew they had me, they had me thinking about this song all the time. Amazing and lovely opener! I keep imagining myself saying, “Darling, won’t you please come home…”

“I Know What I Want” is perfect when you are proposing! The music playing of this song is just so soothing and take note of the lyrics of this song, “How did you know me so well? You smile but you won’t ever tell… It’s you… I know what i want..” You can hear Charles’ lovely voice which is a bonus to this song! He sings so effortlessly while the rest of Math and Physics Club join in with their guitar, bass, drums and even violin. It’s a short song but it definitely worths your time for listening to it.

Stop complaining about the dates that end up in rain and check out “April Showers”. Somehow, i can feel that Charles is singing about a date of his. Singing about how wonderful rain can be (you can replace “Rain” with “Shower” ) if you were with someone that you love. Charles goes, “There’s no place I’d rather be, than with you right next to me, huddled up under my umbrella, though the rain keeps falling down…” You can hear lots of guitar plucking in “April Showers” and it’s like Math and Physics Club are playing in a cave whenever i heard the guitar plucking sound/part. Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba… April Showers… Though i prefer October Showers, my birth month!

“Holidays and Saturdays” is a slow-paced song and it shows Math and Physic Club’s versatility. They’re already very good with mid and fast-tempo songs,”Holidays and Saturdays” is just another song to show that they can even perform slow-tempo song. Picnic in the park, croquet on the lawn, staying up and talking until dawn… These are the things that we do on weekends, aren’t we? A nice way to slow down the tempo of the album.

“La La La Lisa” brings the tempo back! It has a few starts and stops in between but nevertheless, it still makes a good song. I wonder who is Lisa (a girl he met/saw in a club?), Charles sings about her as if he’s so much in love with her, dying to hold her hands, dying to kiss her, dying to be with her. It goes, “I would have died for just one kiss, I had the chance just to hold hands…” It’s just so smart of Math and Physics Club to write such witty lyrics. When Charles sings, “La La La La La La…” There must have been many things going on between Lisa and him.

“Look At Us Now” starts off with acoustic guitar and violin. Lovely! Nice opening to get me wondering for more. “We were in love, but look at us now, ba ba ba ba ba…” It is as if they were so much in love, until now. “Look at us now…,” Charles added. Then there are guitar solo followed by violin solo, what a play in such a short song!

“You’ll Miss Me” is another slow tempo song on the album. It’s one of my favourite songs on the album. I just love the guitar, bass, piano, violin and even the vocals on this song. It found its way to my heart even at the first listen. Charles goes, “Never should have left this carry on for so long, but I dare say that you’ll miss me…” and then he goes again with, “La da da da da la da da….” I gotta say, it’s just so good! Each time after the chorus, the piano comes in exactly at the right time. Really impressive!

“Cold as Minnesota” has a very tasty and groovy bassline to it. The bassline itself is the best asset of this song. Accompanied by handclaps after the break, it’s one of the most dance-able songs on the album. This song is as if Charles were getting mad at someone, “Step outside in the cold, i don’t want you here tomorrow when I wake up”, but Math and Physics Club made it a groovy track that is so delicious to our ears. I can’t say no!

From the lyrics of “Such a Simple Plan”, it seems to be a sad song. But again, Math and Physics Club made it an enjoyable and dance-able track. Charles sings about a girl who’s having a failed relationship, “Summer turned into June, she spent morning night and noon in a tiny room, typing away to another sad romantic…” It ends with, “She cries and reads herself to sleep instead”. Such a simple plan but with a deep meaning!

Math and Physics Club ends with “Last Dance”, a poppy and cheerful song that you want to tap your feet and dance to. The two guitar-playing were well arranged and timed. One is the lead guitar, the other a rhythm guitar. “Why does it have to be sad? Now darling don’t be mad, let’s put the past behind, and hit the floor before the last dance… To make you fall for me” Next time when you’re having a party, please dance with your partnet and remember the lyrics from “Last Dance”. You’ll have the best last dance ever!

Rating: I can imagine myself singing a couple of songs take from the album. “Math and Physics Club” is really created for a couple. All their songs and lyrics are meant to be listened and enjoyed by couples and lovers! If you ever have a chance to sing to your loved ones in front of a big crowd, you’ll know which album to look for! Simple but heart-melting, i can’t help it but give it 7.8 out of 10.

Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Darling, Please Come Home, I Know What I Want, You’ll Miss Me, Last Dance and Cold as Minnesota.

Cheers!

Darren Tan

Avid Indie Music Fan