No Rival for Young Tokyo Police

Your standard all-male four-piece hit the stage to a somewhat reserved reaction from the young university crowd. Beginning the set Young Rival came across as a fair rock group from the '60's, with their short, guitar-driven rock-without-an-edge. (Perhaps the '60's feel was heightened due to the low-fi sound quality.) As they forged on through multiple broken strings and a busted effect pedal the sound somehow improved, as did the group - embracing their sixties likeness by playing an instrumental pop song written by a sixties performer (that was actually one of the highlights of the set). After they played Your Island there were a string of tunes that just got better and better, including Poisonous Moves. Though between song banter was not quite as witty as the band thought it was. Considering how awful the space is as a concert venue (usually worsened by the uninitiated underage university crowd) this Hamilton-band did a decent job of filling it.

The headliners took to the stage shortly thereafter. Josh Hook must be my favourite part of the band, vitally filling out TPC's songs with those catchy guitar riffs. After the inordinate amount of shows in the band's brief history he has obviously polished his chops and mastered his effects pedals (including a loop which was used sparingly but effectively). During the instrumental breakdowns Josh just goes off live and it is fun to watch (especially soloing on, even with a busted string!). Though come to think of it, it may be Greg Alsop kicking the cans out back that I like most. His driving percussion keeps the already short tunes running along at a blistering pace, yet still managing to be indie-rock danceable. In fact, if it is possible TPC played their songs even faster than they come across on record. And yet they still managed to play for an hour, despite having only about 45 minutes of proper music on disc. This was helped by playing self-proclaimed "classics" which I scoffed at due to their relative youth, but the inclusion of singles such as Cut, Cut Paste did please me. New or old these songs are carried along by Dave Monk's vocals. Maybe that is what grabs me with this band - Monk. I mean I couldn't see his face for his hair but his voice rang clear, echoing the records so I could easily sing along with all his hooks, or just appreciate it on the one song they played I wasn't familiar with (new?). Throughout all of this it was the bundle of energy that is Graham Wright who kept calling my attention. Whether he be ferociously pounding on the keys, showing the tambo who's boss, or simply dancing, he is just so into it that it is infectious. For instance, though he sings back-up vocals he can also be seen belting out the lead along with Monk, just not into the mic. These are songs he must have played three bi-jillion times by now but the enthusiasm is still there. Oh I can't choose!

Altogether the band is tight and they know how to put on a show. The venue proved no obstacle as they sucked everyone in, drawing ungoaded clap-alongs and whipping excitement into the sometimes "too-cool" crowd. For the most part the songs were improved versions of themselves; sounding like the record but more rocking wherever they could amp up the guitars and hit those drums even a bit harder. This proved as true for vintage songs like Nature of the Experiment, and Citizens of Tomorrow from the Lesson in Crime buzz EP, as for tracks from the finally released Elephant Shell full length (which they played most of). The one song that wasn't played faster but did get a notably altered live treatment was Juno. This was just before the packed latter-half of the set which rocked along with hits like Tesselate, Your English is Good, Box, a slight reprieve from the full-throttle rock for Listen to the Maths, and then back to it before closing up with Be Good. We the crowd managed to Cheer it On until TPC came back onstage to return the favour (I couldn't resist!). It was brief and left us wanting more, but if any band has mastered the art of rocking hard and fast, and then leaving them wanting more it would have to be my faves - Josh, Greg, Dave and Graham. It's Tokyo Police Club!