Levi's Ones To Watch: Tokyo Police Club

+ The Dykeenies & Pistolas

Camden Barfly, London - 3 Jul 2007

by Jon Fletcher

Three bands who make you want to jump around. It really is that simple

"The songs themselves are infused with a kinetic dynamism - even the staunchest of dance-o-phobics find it difficult to keep their toes from tapping"

True to form, Levi’s Ones Tow Watch have put together another superb line-up for this Camden showcase, with all three bands garnering vocal support from the audience. It is perhaps the first band on – Pistolas – who provide the most energy and excitement.

When we saw this lot back in May at The Great Escape, singer Simon Buller seemed to be attempting to morph into New Kids On The Block, swamped by an oversized white t-shirt and sporting a basin haircut. The hair is still there tonight, but instead of t-shirts, the whole band are wearing slick yet simple white shirts, open necked and with rolled up sleeves. It’s a subtle yet incredibly effective tool, giving Pistolas a sharpness on stage that perfectly matches their music.

They also win performance brownie points by grinning constantly. It’s so simple, but when a band looks as though they’re enjoying themselves as much as this lot do, they’ve already won half the battle. And in Buller, they have a front man like no other. Camp vogue dance moves and a voice that screeches and shimmies across a dance-floor friendly soundtrack make this man irresistible. How long that level of exuberance could be endured without you wanting to chin him remains to be seen, but for now we’d like to see a lot more.

The Dykeenies have grown into themselves since we first came across them many moons ago and even in the three months since the Camden Crawl, their stage show has come on in leaps and bounds. Singer Brian Henderson has grown into his role as a front man and, while he might not have the moves of his Pistolas counterpart, he’s gained a sense of purpose on stage that carries hints of a star. The band’s tunes are great too – chart friendly, synth-heavy pop songs that, no matter how much the band professes to be bemused by the likenesses, have much in common with the chundering melodrama earmarked by The Killers.

Live though, the Dykeenies have a fatal flaw, and it’s cast into stark relief by the gurning enthusiasm of Pistolas. Alan Henderson – one of Brian’s two brothers – has, on all of the times we have seen this band live, been utterly immobile on stage and tonight his lack of expression reaches new levels. It’s not that Henderson A appears to be rendered stationary by musical artistry (this is a band that recently told New Noise they’re in it primarily for the girls, not the music). He doesn’t look as though he wants to be there at all. He never once seems to make eye contact with anyone in the crowd and strums at his guitar with all the fervour of a Death Row inmate doing hard labour. Might we gently suggest that some brotherly nipple pinching be applied until Alan gets his act together?

And so to Tokyo Police Club. This band is understandably rarely mentioned without reference to The Strokes, but this is certainly not a bad thing. Singer David Monks shares Julian Casablancas’ style of delivery, the edge of a croak lending his lyrics added weight. The songs themselves are infused with a kinetic dynamism that conveys joy irrespective of the subject matter, and the even the staunchest of dance-o-phobics find it difficult to keep their toes from tapping.

The band too look as though they are enjoying themselves and, though they don't quite match the effevescence of Pistolas, their songs are more than capable of doing the talking - and the grinning - for them. In all, a fitting end to an excellent night. Roll on next month

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