Tokyo Police Club – ‘Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness: Part One’ [EP] [Album Review]

It seems hard to believe that Toronto-via-Newmarket indie rockers Tokyo Police Club have been around for 10 years.

Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness is the first in a series of EPs the band plans to release in the coming months. TPC doesn’t do much to their signature sound. The first single, “Not My Girl,” is the kind of upbeat indie-pop that we’ve come to expect from the quartet since they first appeared on the scene.

“PCH” is sure to become a summer anthem and with good reason, the band wrote it while they were in L.A. and recorded it when they returned to Toronto during a stretch of particularly cold weather. There’s a laidback feel the synth-flavoured track that’s perfectly suited to warmer weather or even cold days when summer seems like a distant memory.

If there’s a trademarked Tokyo Police Club sound, “Ocean” embodies it. It’s a bit more downtempo than the rest of the EP, but it’s perfectly suited to the track’s melancholy lyrics. When frontman David Monks sings, “I had a little too much to drink,” it’s something that anyone can identify with.

The band rounds out the EP with two catchy numbers, “Losing You” and the punk-influenced “Please Don’t Let Me Down.” The upbeat music on “Losing You” is at odds with the downbeat lyrics but they make it work. “Please Don’t Let Me Down” caps off the release perfectly, leaving the listener thirsty for more.

Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness bodes well for the other EPs Tokyo Police Club plans to release and serves as a perfect celebration of their decade in music.

Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness: Part One Track Listing:

1. Not My Girl – 2:59
2. PCH – 3:14
3. The Ocean – 3:42
4. Losing You – 3:36
5. Please Don’t Let Me Down – 3:11

Run Time: 16:42
Release Date: April 8, 2016
Record Label: Dine Alone Records