Even with misleading name, TPC still rocks

Elephant Shell is different than any project Tokyo Police Club has taken on thus far, but Wright is pleased with the record - he attributes Elephant Shell's new sound to the luxury of time. He explained, "I think that definitely contributed to some of the arrangements being a little more intricate, hopefully a little more interesting, definitely some more density to the songs."

Still, the keyboardist explained the extreme difficulty in evaluating the record as a whole, or even by each individual song after dissecting them so long in recording. "I listen to the parts," Wright said. "I'll listen to a song like 'Juno' and all that I'll hear is the vibraphone, which maybe someone that picks up the record for the first time, they won't even hear that instrument. It's not even mixed that loudly. But because I just remember recording it, or I was happy how it turned out, that's all I hear when I listen to that song."

Wright hopes to listen to the record objectively some day, but for now, all he hears is that vibraphone. The band's sound has changed slightly since its last EP, A Lesson in Crime, but it was not a conscious decision, Wright said. "Most of the time, the songs end up sounding like [the EP], just by the fact it's the four of us writing them, but we have no qualms about doing something that's different if that's what we think works for the song."

This take on song writing gives listeners just the right amount of change and familiarity, leaving Elephant Shell a blend of the dance-party songs of A Lesson in Crime with the calmer sound of songs like "The Harrowing Adventures Of…" Overall, the band would like listeners to come with open minds in listening to the new album. "I really think that the best way that anyone can go into a record is have it be a kind of a blank slate for them, and they can sort of project their own things onto it."

However, the instrumental accompaniment to the music is only part of Tokyo Police Club. The lyrics are often centered on typical subjects like love, loss and growing up. Then there are lyrics about robots taking over the planet.

This unusually clever scenario came about from the early days when Graham Wright and singer/bassist Dave Monks would have song-writing challenges. The challenge begins with a topic, and in the case of "Citizens of Tomorrow," the topic was "tell about the future from the perspective of the fifties and sixties, when they thought we would have robot butlers and live on bubbles on the moon and have jet packs," Wright explained. "[Monks] took that and spun it into a weird apocalyptic robot scenario. I don't know what that says about him."

Something in the mix is right with this band - whether it be the music, the lyrics or the obsession with robots, they reach people of all music tastes. The question is, what gives Tokyo Police Club such wide appeal? Wright doesn't know the answer, but that's fine with him. He explained, "I've talked to people that are hip hop enthusiasts or metal heads and stuff, and all these people that like our band. I don't get what it is about us that appeals to these people, but I think it's awesome."

The band will be as energetic as ever, bringing the music that listeners have come to know and love right to Pittsburgh. Tokyo Police Club will be at Mr. Small's Theatre, and fans are in for a great show. With the addition of lights to the show, there will be a new level to the performance. Wright says, "They'll see us sweating and playing our songs. That's actually the last date of this leg of the tour, so we may be a little tired, but we'll also be very exuberant."