I’d never heard of Tokyo Adventures before hearing this album but I hope to hear a lot from them in the future. In a genre where so many bands seemingly strive to sound the same it’s refreshing to hear something different. They may have drawn comparisons to Weezer and The Get Up Kids but I wouldn’t want to lump them in the same category as any other band. After all how many punk rock songs have an in intro played by a fiddle and a mandolin?
Opening track ‘The Autumn Lights’ is upbeat and punchy and 2 minutes 12 seconds of pure chorus. ‘Goodbye Ricky Wade’ is the standout song of the album. With an infectious melody you can’t listen to this track and not smile. At points all four guys sing which gives the vocals an interesting depth, like in ‘To Infinity And Beyond’. ‘Blocks’ is the kind of song that deserves to be heard in a field filled full of sweaty, booze fuelled festival revellers.
They are all good musicians but I particularly liked Steve Carpenter’s energetic drumming especially in ‘We Have The Technology’. A lot of the lyrics are quite weird, good weird, but still weird. Case in point in, ‘Raise Beers, Lock Horns’ where you get the cracking line: “Sharing nit combs doesn’t help infestation cease to exist”. A good song and practical advice! I also like any album that ends with 45 seconds of feedback.
For four guys from Liverpool they have a very distinctive yet mid-Atlantic sound. With interesting lyrics and good, catchy tunes ‘Hunter’s Handbook’ is definitely a must buy to cure the winter blues.
