Tokyo Five
Goodnight Dog Star
Independent
Tokyo Five pride themselves on being on the fringes of the Perth music scene and state that they are solely a studio operation. This isn’t exactly true, as they managed to play a gig about 18 months ago, and have even threatened to consider doing so again. In recent times, band members have in fact been seen lurking in the crowd at The Bassendean Hotel too.
The shroud of mystery, or apathy construed as secrecy, serves the band well as they fly under the radar and then drop albums with the precision of an aerial strike. The band’s home studio in Guildford captures the resonance of the Fender through Fender setup that is the preference of the reclusive members. With keyboards becoming more prominent over the last few records and guitars that ring for weeks, Tokyo Five have moments (Over West) where they sound like what you would expect The Cure to sound like, if they were raised in warmer weather.
Turn The Lights Off is the type of lovers lament that Tokyo Five are best at. During the trials and tribulations of a relationship, the outfit manage to throw in the type of lyrical proclamations that hit home. There is a distinct lack of football references which have been a staple of the whip-smart writing of Scott Nicholls for some time, yet the cerebral impact is still interspersed with some cheeky wordplay.
Silhouette is a gentle walk through loneliness that builds like an ache in your chest, and has more longing than a heart attack. Metronomic beats show a different side of the band during Everyday, with a refrain that builds by stealth and a timely guitar solo to add extra girth.
Goodnight Dog Star is another album by Tokyo Five that displays how criminal it is that the band remain one of the most obscure on the local landscape.
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
