Dave Monks

So if you haven't heard of Tokyo Police Club yet, get on that. Have I written a post about them? I honestly can't remember, and I'm a little too lazy right now to look. If I haven't, it's gonna happen. Anyhoo, TPC has always been one of my favorite bands. Hailing from Canada, I discovered them on a Canadian compilation album (oh yeah I did) and fell in love with their song, "Nature of The Experiment." Four albums later, they are still fantastic, but as I was saying, this post isn't about them. It's actually about the vastly different EP that the lead singer, Dave Monks, just released. It's awesome. Here's why.
Tokyo Police Club has been one of those bands that has evaded me. I have never seen them live and I am itching to. I'm thinking I'm going to have to travel far and wide now, but oh, I will do it. Lately in their live shows however, Dave has been performing a rather slow acoustic performance of their song, "Tesselate." The band members leave the stage and it is just him and his guitar singing a rather upbeat pop song in a different style. It was these performances that Dave says inspired him to create his new EP All Signs Point To Yes, the singer-songwriter take on his otherwise eccentric style of indie rock.
The lyrics, more straight forward in their verse, urge listeners to follow him through a move, a break up, longing, real human emotions that are catchy to sing along to, and stray far away from his earlier forms of dialogue, that literally make no sense. The EP is more accessible to the average listener and stripped down to match.
Using mostly piano, acoustic guitar, a nice falsetto that he has discovered and honed, some bass and light drums, the six song EP, the complete opposite of Tokyo Police Club's first 7-song album all about robots taking over the world, flows together like a light breeze. Perfect for the time of year it was released in.
And not that the EP has a lack of rhythm, upbeat tracks like, "Hearbeat Blues," contrast nicely to the slower single, "Gasoline," but still feel relaxed.  The EP sounds like what I would assume a nice summer day feels like. I've never had one, I always had swim practice or work, but maybe that's why I'm drawn to the sound. It makes me reminisce for a time where everything is warm and easy. Even though Monks is constantly singing about heartbreak. I guess that's the beauty of music.

Listen to it!