Tokyo Police Club hails from Ontario and recorded its sophomore album, “Champ,” in Los Angeles, but the band still sounds like it’s fresh off the streets of New York. Not like the bearded, flannel-wearing experimenters of late ‘00s Brooklyn, but the blue-blazered Manhattan that influenced the racing riffs and romantic confusion of bands like the Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs a few years earlier.
With producer Rob Schnapf’s (Elliott Smith, Guided By Voices) expert ears behind the boards, Tokyo Police Club has turned out its best record yet, a set of high-speed guitar anthems that mix mid-range thump with a sizzling side of treble. Its throaty, throwback rawness recalls last year’s similarly hungry debut by Pavement-influenced youngsters Cymbals Eat Guitars, but TPC’s songs are more focused affairs, each verse leading into a fist-pumping chorus (think Green Day, not “Jersey Shore”) with a minimum of instrumental fuss. Future mixtape hits such as “Favorite Colour” and “Breakneck Speed” are the knockout punches, but “Champ” is a winner from start to finish.
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