In the midst of summer new music emerges and ‘Summer (insert year here)’ play lists pop up on mp3 players everywhere. On June 8th, 2010 Canadian Indie Rock group Tokyo Police Club debuted their second album ‘Champ’, and it just so happens their album is perfect for those types of play lists.
‘Champ’ can stand as one cohesive unit, or individual songs can be played by themselves and it is still as impacting. The album starts off slow with ‘Favourite Food’ but the song quickly builds and climaxes, running straight into track two ‘Favourite Colour’ without losing momentum. The second track is where the album starts to radiate beach vibes, and this continues throughout the rest of the tracks.
The first single off of the album was ‘Breakneck Speed’, a song with a sing-a-long melody and lyrics that are meant to get stuck in your head. However, it is overshadowed by other tracks like the second single ‘Boots of Danger (Wait Up)’, the electropop-esque ‘Bambi,’ and ‘Hands Reversed,’ a track where the drums take a back seat and let the lyrics be the driving force. ‘Hands Reversed’ and the third single ‘Gone’ really set the entire theme for the album. ‘Gone’ is the epitome of the beach wrapped up in one three minute package and the line ‘your only souvenir is a suitcase full of sand and when you feel like you’re a million, I feel like I’m a grand’ in ‘Hands Reversed’ wraps up the feelings and emotions conveyed in each track in one simple line.
Tokyo Police Club, while still keeping their unique sound, has hints of The Wombats and Matt and Kim thrown into their songs, in a good way. In a year where a lot of bands are going through a ‘sophomore slump’, Tokyo Police Club avoided one completely and produced a quality second album that will hold its own on the ‘Best of 2010’ lists for the rest of the year.

-Erin Browne