When it comes to putting songs in an aesthetically pleasing order, I’m your man. That’s why I recently jumped at the opportunity to provide music for a road trip that I wasn’t even going on. They probably just wanted me to lend them a few records and burnt CDs, but—as you may already know—when I do something, I do it big. This trait currently has me in the midst of a project that has me listening to a record every day for an entire year. It’s called Swole Ear. Maybe you’ve heard of it.
Anyway, I went big and did them one better—I created a 50-song, 3-hour, glorious, beautiful, immaculate masterpiece of a mixtape. This thing is epic, and that’s not a term that I throw around lightly. From Arcade Fire to Yeasayer, this monster covers everything under the hipster garbage sun. After the road trip, my listeners were truly grateful that I bestowed my work upon them, but they did have a few questions and comments for me. One of the least interesting of these inquiries pertained to a band called Tokyo Police Club. “Who are they?” I was asked. “They sound just like The Clash.”
Wut.
That statement has followed me for weeks now, as I’ve tried and tried to figure out how anyone can hear The Clash in Tokyo Police Club. I’ve got nothing.
I figured I’d give Elephant Shell—the band’s other LP—a listen, just to see if maybe I could hear some Clash in ‘em.
I mean, you could say that every rock band shares something with The Clash. Tokyo Police Club employs guitar, bass, drums and vocals in their music, and their songs follow a verse-chorus-verse structure for the most part. Sure, the two groups have their similarities, but comparisons like this lie on a slippery slope. Soon enough, we’ll be mentioning Jack White and Insane Clown Posse in the same sentence.
What I did find after listening to this record was just an affirmation of what I already knew—Tokyo Police Club is an awesome band. Yeah, they’re indie, but they’ve got a sound original and warm enough to make them worth listening to. This record is highly recommended for fans of rock music, but maybe I should suggest it to everyone who wears pants—the members of Tokyo Police Club wear pants when they’re performing.
Swole Ear 
Why, oh why, did I click on the highlighted period. Ouch. Bad Jack.