words by Elliot Cole
photos by Evan Mora

Everything Tokyo Police Club does seems to happen fast.  A few years back, the band rapidly exploded onto the indie scene with an intense amount of internet buzz.  The buzz built towards the band’s recent full-length Elephant Shell, an album that doesn’t waste a single second, ultimately clocking in at a brisk 28 minutes.  On an insanely warm night in Austin, Tokyo Police Club’s affinity for speed became all the more evident: the band was able to fit almost their entire discography into a single set.

 With Hurricane Ike looming, the venue had an austere feeling of impending rain and wind.  A crowd of teenage hipsters and late 20-something yuppies milled about and chatted through the openers, including Athens’ The Whigs, who, though inspired, was generally too unpolished and midtempo to capture the audience’s attention.  The Whigs maintained a sense of vigor, but the lack of vocal urgency (singer/guitarist Parker Gispert has a somewhat laid-back, raspy release) made for a somewhat mixed bag: the band wants to be excitable and high energy, but the vocals stylings are counterintuitive to those sensibilities. 

 Tokyo Police Club took the stage amidst intense humidity and heat, forgoing proper introductions and rushing into a speedy, high-tempo set.  Despite the weather, the band was met with raised drinks and ambitious applause.  Clapping, as it turns out, would be one of the themes of the night.  No genuine fan should leave a TPC show without swollen red palms, testaments to the infectious pop melodies and rhythms of the group.  Frontman Dave Monks relied on an interactive, communal atmosphere, encouraging the clap-a-longs to such songs as “In A Cave”, “Graves”, and “Sixties Remake”.

The set – like the band’s discography - was to the point, with no time wasted.  TPC brought the goods, despite the sweatfest that was Emo’s.  The songs were occasionally rushed, but compensated with incredible energy and jubilance.  Elephant Shell cuts like “Tessellate” and the blistering “Your English Is Good” presented themselves as faster and more active in the live setting.  TPC also introduced a new track that could easily be interchangeable with anything from The Strokes’ back catalogue.  The only real down point of the set was, predictably, when the band tried to take it down a notch with “The Harrowing Adventures Of…”; a track that left the audience a little complacent.

 Long, cylindrical rods made for an interesting lighting arrangement, adding a somewhat futuristic edge that complimented their more sci-fi leaning songs like “Robot Master”.  The wave of color was diverse and, at the risk of looking like a Nine Inch Nails set, divvied up the performance nicely.  Despite these visuals and the lively set, a good portion of the crowd held to the sideline of Emo’s, hanging around the edges to socialize.  The heat of the stage area may have been to intense for some patrons, but, in general, it seemed more like a decent sector of the crowd just came out because it was a weekend night, not so much to see an exciting band.

 Considering the looming chance of rain, Tokyo Police Club may have sped through their set to avoid a potential downpour.  However, it’s just as believable that Tokyo Police Club is simply a band that likes doing things quickly.  On a night of sporadic, vigorous clapping, waves of vibrant color, and a no-frills foray into solid indie pop, slow and steady wasn’t really an option.