Tokyo Police Club
Graves - Tokyo Police Club Single Review
Single Review
The third single to be taken from Tokyo's Police Club's (short) debut album 'Elephant Shell', 'Graves' leaves you in a bit of a conundrum. The guitar work is energetic, the tune is surprisingly upbeat for a song including the lyrics 'Meet me where your mother lies'/'sharing all our blackened brains'. Listen hard enough and you quickly realise the track is about a reunion with a dead mother; not a topic you can particularly loll your head to on an average day.
Tokyo Police Club have been nothing if not consistent in the three years they've been together, delivering a catalogue of numerous singles, all hovering around the two and a half minute mark. They are not ones for a five minute single. 'Graves' is no different in this respect. But for all the good in this single, there's an element of 'so what?' involved. David Monks' vocals let the track down, probably because the single is over-produced and has taken the raw quality he possesses when heard live. It's a shame, as Tokyo Police Club have the tunes. In future though they need recapture some of their originality and rely less on imperfect vocals.
