Fanzine 29 doc - soapforall.co.uk

TOKYO_
POLICE_
CLUB
It’s two years since Tokyo Police
Club’s mini album, A Lesson In
Crime, was released in North
America and gradually slipped into
the British Isles' consciousness.
Showcasing a heady mix of postpunk,
indiepop and emo, the
Canadian teens' EPs and last
summer's single, 'Your English Is
Good', trimmed alternative rock's
indulgent flab, delivering brief and
catchy songs tailor-made for the
live arena. The pressures of
extensive touring and no little
procrastination over how their first
proper album should sound
delayed the release of their début
album, Elephant Shell, until last
month.
Ahead of their UK tour in June, we
spoke with lead singer and bassist,
Dave Monks, the day after their
biggest headlining show to date,
the Metro in Chicago.
HV: How was last night?
DM: “There was a bit of
nervousness going into the show,
which can be a good thing, but it
was amazing!”
You seem to have quite a punishing
schedule at the moment with not
too many days off – how do you
stay sane on tour?
“I don't know that we do, but we
manage. We've all known each
other for so long that getting along
comes naturally and we all have
some sense of giving each other
space because otherwise touring is
like a month of non-stop socialising
which is strange. Boredom and
short attention spans are generally
our main foibles. It’s imperative
that we keep ourselves excited by
what we're doing, and we'll do
whatever is necessary to achieve
that.”
Do you feel that the wait for your
proper full-length début LP has
been beneficial?
“I feel that throughout
touring the EP, we were
building a solid fan
base from our live
shows. Not on publicity
or anything. And those
are the kind of fans that
will stick by you even if
it takes a long time to
make your next record.
And we didn't want to
let people down with a
rushed effort. And now
that it's out, the
response has been
great and we're
continuing to play
shows that we're really
proud of.”
What ideas did you have for the
album prior to recording, and were
these fully realised?
“Because we were touring so
much, we didn't really have time to
stop and really think about our
record before we first started
recording. We spent a few weeks
in the studio during September
2007 of last year and came out with
a record that wasn't going where
we wanted it to.”
How did you progress from there?
“The day after we came out of the
studio we played two big shows
with Bloc Party. And I think it
occurred to us right there and then
that we wanted to make a record
that represented us as an energetic
live band. We wanted to make a
record without a filler-track and
where every song could potentially
be someone's favourite Tokyo
Police Club song. So after we
spent October 2007 touring, we
halted the gears and went into a
rehearsal space in Toronto and all
of sudden had a burst of creativity
and wrote eight songs in two
weeks. And then in December last
year we recorded it in Toronto. And
we couldn't be happier with our
record.”
How have the new tracks translated
into the live set?
“The songs from this record seem
to fit in really well with the old
songs we have. When we were
writing the new stuff we were aware
of our live strengths and I think it
comes across. Plus we have lights
now! We've been considering
covering 'First We Take Manhattan'
by Leonard Cohen. Because he is
great, Canadian, and I would get to
say, "first we take Manhattan" and
then Graham would play that epic
string thing and then maybe we'd
all shout, "then we take Berlin!". But
we then we realised how long that
song is and how weird the
arrangements are and we're
thinking we might try something
else first…”
And finally Graham, [keyboardist] I
hear you're reviewing the
bathrooms you frequent during the
tour via a blog, what do you
consider the essentials to an
enjoyable bathroom visit?
“I'm not picky about bathrooms, I'm
really not. All I ask for is a
moderately clean room where the
pipes are attached and the door
closes most of the way. This is
surprisingly hard to find in America,
but perhaps I can make a
difference in my own small way.
You might say that I'm a real life
hero.”
Words: Simon Smallbone
www.tokyopoliceclub.com
Tokyo Police Club tour the UK now.
be your
_own pet
Having listened to the second Be
Your Own PET album, the following
feelings may occur: your ears will
hurt, like someone has tried to ram
a telescope through one to see out
the other side, and failed. Second,
pure aggression will course through
your nervous system, willing you to
act upon it and cause serious
damage to anything and anyone
within reach. Finally, it will be
infinitely clear that the band in
question have absolutely no
intention of following the unwritten
musical rule of 'moving on'. Equally
irreverent, equally loud, and equally
as brilliant as their debut, the band
appear set on distilling punk rock
back to its base, and in doing so,
ruffling industry feathers along the
way.
For the US release of 'Get
Awkward' three tracks were
censored by Universal, including
the outstanding 'Becky' and 'Black
Hole', which contain tongue-incheek
lyrics about violence and
killing, and being pretty damn
amused by the whole thing. What
does front-woman Jemina Pearl
make of that?
"IT FUCKING BLOWS!"
she says. "I've no idea
why it's all happened
either ‘cos I'm not an
old rich white dude with
a huge pole up his
ass."
Thankfully, XL are without said
poles, meaning we get the
complete uncut version. Get
Awkward-gate has not dampened
the band's patriotic spirit however.
"America! Fuck yeah! America is
home, and as you all know, home
is always better and more
comfortable. We play house parties
and small venues all the time back
home in Nashville, mostly with our
friends watching and have a great
time. The US is huge so it takes a
long time to tour and spread our
music, but there are definitely
certain parts of America that show
us a great time every time we're
there."
It seems American heritage
remains at the dark heart of Be
Your Own PET. Despite the album's
pulsating anger and disgust for
some aspects of American life,
underground US cinema has
proved a major influence on the
band. Russ Meyer flicks, the classic
zombie films of George A. Romero,
and even the techno-epic Robocop
were raided for musical inspiration
says Nathan Vasquez.
"I love films, and I like to take my
favourite movies and relate lines or
scenes from them to things that
have happened in my life".
This is evident in the band’s recent
dalliance with homemade cinema.
Three video blogs featuring the
band before, during and after a
show at a roller-derby in a variety
of spoof comi-violent sketches can
be seen on their Myspace, with
drummer John in a star turn as a
lovelorn teen in episode two. While
getting beaten by roller-derby girls
and getting high on “’shrooms“, it’s
clear these four punk kids are, in
their own words, “chombo-ing as
hard as (they) can”. This is
perhaps why the cover art for ‘Get
Awkward’ features the four band
members clutching items from their
childhood; a personal touch from a
band doing things on their own
terms.
“Yeah, they’re things we’ve had for
a long time. The telephone was the
phone I had as a kid that my
parents almost threw away. I had to
save it from the trash! I wanted to
make the album look like some of
my favourite punk album covers.
Real set-up shots like ‘The
Incredible Shrinking Dickies’ and X-
Ray Spex’s ‘Germ Free
Adolescents’.” says Jemina.
As if they weren’t busy enough
offending everyone in sight with
their current band, the three male
members have two side projects
between them; Turbo Fruits who
are working on the follow up to their
debut, due out early next year once
BYOP have completed their
extensive and not doubt destructive
world tour, while Nathan’s Deluxin
So much
good stuff,
but you get
these
rooms full
of suits
and...I don’t
mission statement?
know. It’s a
bit sad
Words: Andy Porter
what they
don’t get to
hear
project sells “a ridiculous amount of
records on the BYOP tour”. So
does Jemina have any plans for a
‘side project’ of her own?
“I had a band with my ex-boyfriend,
but I quit when we broke up. It was
called Cheap Time and we had one
7 inch together. I would love to
have an all girl band one day, but
it’s hard to find a girl drummer.”
So there you go. The advert’s
there; any female or perhaps
particularly effeminate male
drummers interested in lie-ins, late
nights and making outstanding DIY
punk records while sharing a tour
bus with Jemina, email your details
and we’ll pass them on. The
“To shove a wad of
fireworks up their ass
and light them on fire!”
www.beyourownpet.net
‘Get Awkward’ is out now on XL. Be
Your Own PET play Reading and
Leeds festivals in August.
ten eleven