Tokyo Police Club

When The Strokes unleashed their debut album on the world they set in motion a style that sent ripples through the then stagnant pond of the indie/rock world ...and until their recent record it looked like they themselves couldn't keep up with the legacy they so forcefully laid down. Even though their sound borrowed much from tried and tested sources, The Strokes brought with them a new freshness and a raw and immediate might that has given birth to many a new band. This Toronto quartet, Tokyo Police Club, are one of those following in these footsteps and although this is very obvious from listening to their debut EP it still makes for an entertaining 16 minutes.

Despite opening the record with the words "Operator, get me the president of the world, this is an emergency," A Lesson In Crime is a fine introduction to this fledgling band of hopefuls. Cheer It On sets the pace early with its riff heavy structure. The best moments however come when the band momentarily steer away from Strokes territory as in La Ferrassie and Citizens Of Tomorrow where the guitars step back and give the less raspy side of lead singer Dave Monk's voice space to shine. Here we see a hidden sensitivity in this voice that brings to mind Grandaddy, enhanced by the swathes of soft synthesiser and frequent references to robots.

There is a certain naivety about Tokyo Police Club - both in their Strokes-ish sound and some of the lyrics but A Lesson In Crime has glimmers of real hope and offers more than enough clues that this is a band that, given the space of a full length album, could produce something great.