Artist: Tokyo Police Club
Album: Elephant Shell
Release Date: 4/22/2008
I had to get this out there. I have been listening to it on repeat for the last three or four days. It is by no means a new album nor a groundbreaking one. It is, however, intoxicatingly catchy. Back in the day (2007-2008) when I worked at the Purdue Student Radio (Not the other nice radio stations at Purdue like Cary, this one was in the basement of the union with a soundboard that’s heyday was before I was in existence) we used to receive tons of pre-release and promo albums so they bands could try to get some airplay. Purdue Student Radio might not have been the place to send it as our station had such a limited range and the stream was broken for a while. I mean no disrespect to PSR as it was tons of fun, it was just in bad shape when I was there. Anyway, this post isn’t about PSR it’s about Elephant Shell. So, this album showed up in a stack one day and the band’s name intrigued me, so I gave it a play. On the first listen I was hooked. It has some of the best hooks and the songs have a quirky charm to them. Even now I find myself singing along to Centennial and The Harrowing Adventure Of… (Ouuurrrrrr Cen…Tenniallllll). The lead’s voice (Dave Monks) is unique and suits the indie pop jams of Tokyo Police Club. As I said, it’s not Earth-shattering, but I just really have fallen in love with this album. Go check it out and tell me what you think.