Tokyo Police Club is back after a three year long break. The Canadian indie rock band has quite a successful past with albums like Champ and touring with the likes of Weezer, Foster The People, and Angels and Airwaves. But after three years away can they come back strong and deliver something new and fresh with Forcefield?
I really wish I could answer yes to that question but I can’t. While the album does have that sound that is familiar to new indie rock, it isn’t fresh. After hearing the first track, “Argentina( Parts I, II, III), I had high hopes for the album. It felt like the old Tokyo Police Club I knew and loved hadn’t changed and was still making good music. After the nearly nine minute long song was finished, it was all down hill from there though. Each track following the opener didn’t feel like it belonged on a Tokyo Police Club album. The songs felt really generic and in no way different from what every other indie rock group is doing. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing and the tracks weren’t particular awful, they just weren’t what you expect out of this band. Tracks like “Tunnel Vision and “Gonna Be Ready” were actually pretty good despite sounding generic. Each song just felt like a step further from what I loved about the band in the past.
I understand that bands change with time and with that their style and music changes as well, but to me this didn’t feel like they were trying to change. It felt like they wanted to release a new album for the fans of the bands older material but also wanted to appeal to possible new fans who like the sound of popular indie rock. Overall I wish this album sounded more like Champ and less like every other indie album being released these days.
Tracks to check out: 1 (“Argentina (Parts I, II, II)), 4 (“Gonna Be Ready”), and 7 (“Tunnel Vision”)
RIYL: Ra Ra Riot, Phoenix
Reviewed By: Ethan Carney
