Elephant Shell

Hey there everyone, and welcome to the first June post on Masoni Raves About. Following the lackluster production I offered throughout May, I promise to make an effort to post much more frequently this month and into summer. Today’s post concerns one of my favorite bands, Tokyo Police Club (mentioned in the “My Favorite Music” post ages ago, back when they only had a couple EPs) and their new album, entitled Elephant Shell. I’ll give a track-by-track analysis to give you an idea what their album is all about. And away we go.

1. “Centennial:” Following a great opening, this song remains light and catchy throughout. Doubtless one of my favorite songs on the entire album, it boasts some witty wordplay and great drums all the way through. Favorite lyrical highlights include “way back when, we met because my parents knew your parents,” reflecting the typical Tokyo Police Club trendy-yet-nerdy feel.
2. “In a Cave:” great bass play at the opening continues the nice flow from “Centennial,” but the lyrics are a little weaker, although lead singer Dave Monks’ explosive vocals during the choruses are the song’s most powerful and defining characteristic. This song lends its lyric “elephant shell” to the title of the album, but it gets overshadowed by its more memorable neighbors.
3. “Graves:” A word of warning about this track: although the music is great, and the lyrics themselves are pretty good (for example, “a thousand suns will rise and set”), the subject matter is rather gross for my taste. It concerns people digging graves for themselves next to the tomb of one of their mothers, and then goes into gory detail of how their bodies decompose together and become one. It’s not my cup of tea, but the subject matter doesn’t detract from the quality of the song.
4. “Juno:” One of my favorite songs on the disc, it features powerful vocals and complementary music throughout, showing off the trademark singing style that Club started on A Lesson in Crime. The explosive second verse is perhaps the most memorable and rewarding part, and the song overall is one of the album’s strong points.
5. “Tesselate:” The first single from the album and perhaps one of the best songs, “Tesselate” features some creative keyboarding/synthesizer play to give the song a very unique and enjoyable sound. Lyrics are average, as they make a noticeable effort to sound a little more intelligent than the song really requires (“dead lovers salivate, broken hearts tesselate tonight”). The chorus is incredible, however, with a hurricane crescendo accompanied by frantic piano providing one of the best 10-second segments on the whole album. Tokyo Police Club also retains its nostalgic-for-elementary-school theme by incorporating “and all the kids who cut their knees on that old schoolyard fence” and by setting the music video for the song in a gymnasium and concerning a grade school fight.
6. “Sixties Remake:” this is the track that harkens back most to the old TPC sound, with the echoed “hey’s” and epic guitar tone. The song is pretty enjoyable for people who’ve liked the band as long as I have because it reminds one of A Lesson in Crime, but the song is good enough to stand on its own two feet. Not a real standout song apart from the nostalgia.
7. “The Harrowing Adventures Of…:” Doubtless the riskiest song on the album, it opens with some eerie bells like those heard in wind-up music boxes, and after a few seconds is accompanied by some pretty high-pitched signing from Monks. At this point, about 15 seconds in, I was very embarrassed for them. But some intense drums and hand claps arrived at 0:20 to save the song, and it turned out to be a pretty good one. The de facto “slow song” for the album, it served its duties well and continues the nostalgic theme with lyrics about childhood adventures, battling imaginary “monsters of the deep.” So give this one a chance past 19 seconds, it won’t disappoint.
8. “Nursery, Academy:” This track is my personal favorite, with very catchy and engaging lyrics and continually great guitar and drums. Favorite lyrics are “because the word on the street is you’ve got a weakness,” followed always by an explosion of guitar. The song is a very strong one, despite its questionable name, but I could understand if someone liked “Tesselate” or “Juno” instead. Definitely give this one a listen.
9. “Your English is Good:” this song was released long before the album, so the track is old news to me. An excellent song regardless of its release date[s], with the trademark Tokyo Police Club sound and backup singing that was all but absent on this newest opus.
10. “Listen to the Math:” A questionable song at the outset, with breathy lyrics and pretty weak guitar. As it continues, it begins picking up and becomes a reasonably powerful song at 1:01, when the instruments take over and the better lyrics arrive. Give it a try, and basically don’t give up on it too early; it gets pretty good. You could say you should “Listen to” it. I know, I’m hilarious. You’re too kind.
11. “The Baskervilles:” Again begins with questionable vocals, but begins to pick up at around 0:21 and then really improves at 0:33 with a gorgeous crescendo and the lyrics, “…so pull back the covers tonight.” The song becomes fairly fast-paced despite the slow opening and should be considered as great a finale as “La Ferrassie” was for Crime.

Overall, I give Elephant Shell a 7.8 out of 10.

Thanks for reading, and download Elephant Shell and give me any objections/comments on my verdict.