Tokyo Police Club

A Lesson In Crime

Paper Bag Records

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Tokyo Police Club's musical formula -- which could be efficiently summed up as Aldous Huxley fronting the Strokes -- doesn't seem like a particularly promising one. It's a credit to the Toronto quartet that its seven-song debut EP is so throttling. "Cheer It On" is an endearingly frazzled ball of wiry guitars, crackling snare drums and swaggering groove that's given an additional kick by frontman David Monks's nearly hoarse vocals. Enthusiastic handclaps are balanced by funereal synths to open the jittery post-punk "Citizens of Tomorrow," as Monks gets in touch with his inner sci-fi dork. "If It Works" and "Be Good" employ a similar handclap-and-synth combination to icy effect, while a loud, thumping bass wags out a danceable bottom end. Melodies are fortunately never far from the surface and the energy never flags, making even the most bizarre lyrical turns ("Our robot masters will know how to clean this mess up and build a better world for man and machine alike") surprisingly convincing.

-- David Peisner