Tokyo Police Club

Smith (Paper Bag)

By Carlye Wisel
Published: November 10th, 2007 | 12:48pm

With its calming vocals alongside punchy instrumentals, unique song introductions, and ear-catching background chanting, Smith features all of the elements that define the essence of Tokyo Police Club. Somehow, though, it still feels significantly different from their previous release, 2006's A Lesson In Crime.

Only four tracks long, the Smith EP begins with a syllabic vocal scale and a barely audible, near-whispered,"Um…okay. Let's try that," a far cry from Crime's opening declaration of, "Operator, get me the president of the world!" The lead track off Smith, "Box," is a poppy standout, but "Cut, Cut Paste" with its droning synthesizers and heavy-toned guitar takes a quizzical step into a punkier direction. Whereas Tokyo Police Club's prior EP was a more cohesive effort from the Toronto-based band, Smith features much more variation, and is notably more discordant between tunes.

The second half of the EP features the slowly cavernous, neat throw-away version of "A Lesson in Crime" and a remix of "Be Good." Though each enjoyable in their own right, these tracks make Smith feel like less of an EP, and more of an extended single with bonus content. It's not to say that Smith is bad in any sense, it just that Crime just happens to be a better disc. With two EPs under Tokyo Police Club's belt, it will be interesting to see where a full-length release under its new label Saddle Creek will take them. But, until then, I'll prefer listening to their old material.