Tokyo Police Club
Forcefield
Reviewed by: Lara Supan
If the Killers, Snow Patrol and Jimmy Eat World walked into a bar…
Tokyo Police Club’s new album, Forcefield, starts out with an epic, three part song titled “Argentina”, clocking in at a whopping 8 minutes 53 seconds. Although the song is a bold statement in this 140-characters-or-less society, it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Each new theme in the song seems to be threaded thinly to the one before it, with a driving bass and doubled vocals to smooth out the track. With lyrics like “Born in 1988, give or take- we share bottles we share gum, when you smile, you smile with all your teeth at once”, I don’t think there’s any smoothing over that can be done.
Although it looks like Tokyo Police Club is posturing for their hit single to be the second track, “Hot Tonight”, the strongest track on the album is shaping up to be #4, “Gonna Be Ready”. Runners out there should get ready, because this track is great for traveling in general. Including a line about driving in the city, this song is meant to be turned up and fist pumped to, without a doubt.
Coming in a close second is a track titled “Toy Guns”, which has an intriguing rhythmic variance that will most definitely have you tapping your desk, or dashboard, in spite of yourself. With a thought provoking chorus like, “When every other kid on the block has a shot gun, I never know the difference between the toys and the real ones”, this song has the potential to transcend the belief that there are no meaningful lyrics allowed in dance rock.
All in all, this album is good for running, driving, and raving. If that’s what you’re looking for, Forcefield delivers!
Rating- Listenable
