Monday 20/08/07 Tokyo Police Club, Operahouse, The Recovery @ Thekla Social, Bristol

Tonight at Thekla things get off to a dodgy start but thankfully it all ends well.  The Recovery are up first.  Over wailing guitar and crashing cymbals, their vocals are just plain strange.  High, strained and almost alien-like, it sounds like a poor man’s tribute to Placebo.  It’s a welcome relief when the set’s over.  At least from this point things can only get better.

And they do.  Camden four piece Operahouse are enthusiastic and a whole lot more tuneful than their predecessors.  Upbeat with disco beats they sing of headstrong girls in 'Diane', general confusion in 'Jarvis' and holding onto young love ('Man Next Door').  They get us dancing but it’s a spikey sound all too similar to fellow Londoners Good Shoes.

When Tokyo Police Club take to the stage it’s clear they are a class above the rest.   This is the Canadian’s third time in the UK.  They’ve played Glastonbury (“it was very muddy”) and they’re playing Reading and Leeds this weekend.  It’s their first time in Bristol but from this reception they’ll surely be back.  Their jangling guitars and rousing chanting in “Your English is Good” drive us crazy, while our clapping helps keep the pace in dystopian 'Citizens of Tomorrow'.  Dave Monk’s drawling vocals have been likened to The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, but the band’s incessant guitars and driving rhythms are strong enough in their own right.  Proving that there isn’t enough science fiction in indie music with 'Nature of the Experiment' and 'Shoulders and Arms', the set builds and grows to a rousing climax, then finishes so abruptly that we’re left hanging, eager for an encore.  But that’s it.  Like their songs, Tokyo Police Club’s set is short, sharp and leaves you hungry for more.  Very impressive.