Tokyo Police Club, “Breakneck Speed”
Tokyo Police Club’s first EP A Lesson in Crime was one of my favorite records of 2007. Every song felt like it was going to explode. There were handclaps, hooks, and cheers. The songs seemed to just fall out of the band as they jumped around trying to have fun. In 2008, Tokyo Police Club released their first LP entitled Elephant Shell. As much as I liked their first EP, I never really got into the full length for some reason. The songs were just as strong, but I think a whole album of them seemed a little overwhelming. Even though Shell clocked in under 30 minutes, I probably only listened to it a handful of times. For me there is something so special about A Lesson in Crime which the band was not able to recreate, because they could not or did not want to, on Elephant Shell.
Tokyo Police Club’s new album, Champ, is coming out in June. The first single “Breakneck Speed” was recently released, and it sounds great. The song is tight and well-written, and it definitely reminds me more of the songs on Elephant Shell rather than A Lesson in Crime. Despite “Breakneck Speed” being a solid pop song, I am still a little disappointed. The song does not sound vital, and this is a problem for a band who used to write songs that felt necessary. Is there some subjectivity here? Absolutely. I subjectively think Tokyo Police Club has lost their touch. Yes, they are a little older, and yes maybe they are not the same people who wrote the first EP. But why continue with the same sound if you can’t do it as well any more. This is me standing on the sidelines as always, but I do wonder what Tokyo Police Club is trying to accomplish. They certainly are not making better music than they use to, so perhaps they are looking to achieve popular success. Who knows. All I know is that have listened to “Breakneck Speed” ten times, and I don’t feel like I will ever need to listen to it again.
…But then I listened to it one more time, and I decided it’s a lot better than I give it credited for. What I missed perhaps on the first few listens is the emotion, which the band has gotten better and better at bringing out in their songs. The line, “I remember when our voices used to sound the exact same / Now we just translate,” is especially poignant. So, what is my conclusion… I think “Breakneck Speed” is a great record. Listen to it, but if you haven’t heard their first EP, please spend the 16 minutes and 23 seconds it takes to hear it.
LCD Soundsystem, “Drunk Girls”
Here we go. LCD Soundsystem’s new album is definitely in my top 3 most anticipated albums for the year. To be honest, I am not sure why. I really respect James Murphy as a producer and for his work as the DFA czar, but I really don’t like a lot of his songs. When he gets it right, it’s amazing, but his batting average is pretty bad. With this being said, even his most poorly written songs sound great. I think this may be the case with his first single off the new album It’s Happening, which has proven to only further conflict my already convoluted feelings for LCD Soundsystem.
“Drunk Girls” sounds familiar. It sounds like “Daft Punk is Playing at my House” and “North American Scum”. These songs are a common type of LCD Soundsystem song, the stupid party song. I don’t like those songs, and I am not feeling great about “Drunk Girls.” My initial response was very negative, but the song has grown on me a little bit. As always, the production is superb. Every sound is clean, crisp, and warm. There are moments in this song that I really like, pretty much every part where they don’t yell “Drunk Girls” over and over. For as good a producer as he is, James Murphy should spend less time fiddling with nobs and more time writing a solid song that includes a narrative. There is nothing clever or interesting going on here besides the production.
What also may be an issue for me is James Murphy’s public persona. In some ideal world, only the music would matter, but this is simply not the case. The album art, artist’s dress, and videos for their music all have an influential part on how we perceive a song or album. Also important is how the artist comes across, and Murphy comes across as a stuck-up prick, which makes liking his music all that much harder. This man is not humble, and that definitely affects his music. He is an amazing producer, and he could be an amazing songwriter if he took the time to actually craft a song, but from what I gather he can’t be bothered. For the one-two punch of great producers and songwriters listen to Holy Ghost!’s “I Will Come Back.”
The Golden Filter, “Hide Me”
The Golden Filter has not released an album yet, but they certainly have been trending high for over a year now. They are a disco duo from NYC, and they have been making some solid songs that have been popular in the hipster-art scene. They are definitely glam enough to be considered fashionable, but they are not the flash in the pan that most arty groups end up being. There is some meat on their bones. Their first big song was “Solid Gold,” a track that makes you want do lines of coke even if you are straight-edge. The record is very tight and cold in the Italio-disco tradition, which was huge in 2008 and 2009 and is now crossing over to mass culture.
Their third single from the forthcoming LP in April is entitled “Hide Me.” It sounds somewhat similar to “Solid Gold”,” but it has a more laid back feel despite the pounding bass synth. This track does demonstrate that despite using similar rhythms and instrumentation, Golden Filter is able to create different narratives out of the same set of tools. This is much more difficult than creating a new sound for each song. Only very talented and confident artists can really pull it off. It looks like The Golden Filter is one of the few.
“Hide Me” is not an outstanding track on it’s own, but it does not try to be. It is a part of a much larger aesthetic that is deep, interesting, and most of all, really fucking cool. I was at a show this week where Washed Out and Tobacco were playing. It was mostly full of early 20-somethings who run in the hipster-art scene. Needless to say, I did not fit in, but I never do, which is beside the point. The point is that this place was full of people trying to be cool, and I didn’t believe a single one of them. Being cool is a different universe than trying to be cool. I say this because Golden Filter is very cool, and it is totally effortless on their part. Their music just oozes with confidence and sexuality, in a way that could never be a shallow pretension.
-Daniel Wipert