Champ

Newmarket, Ontario's Tokyo Police Club released their debut EP A Lesson In Crime in 2006. For a band who made their name through minute-and-a-half songs and music blog buzz, that's an awfully long time ago.

In Internet years, Tokyo Police Club are just about ready for retirement. As a group of underage buddies from the Toronto suburbs, their antsy take on post-Strokes rock was an easy upload for music blogs upon the 2006 release of their snappy A Lesson in Crime EP. Back then, their chances of living beyond the next Hype Machine cycle was anyone's guess, and any notions of longevity seemed moot for a band that preferred to wrap things up around the two-minute mark. But as other 2006 indie upstarts like Annuals, Be Your Own Pet, and Voxtrot have blown up or faded away, Tokyo Police Club endure. This is not a coincidence.

Toronto’s Tokyo Police Club were one of the earlier pioneers of blog buzz, forming in 2005 and grabbing mentions on vapid reality shows like The Hills only a couple of years later; thus their commercial appeal. TPC’s high-energy, anthemic guitar pop may not be overly complicated, nor are their shows unpredictable, but their music is kind of like that old boyfriend you keep going back to: they’re dependable, but not challenging. TPC’s records often fall on the safe side — that is to say, catchy and appropriate for a beer-buzzed summertime BBQ, but that’s about it.