Shirts vs. Skins

Album Review

Graham Wright of Tokyo Police Club expands slightly on his debut solo EP The Lakes of Alberta with this collection of brief and quirky songs. Wright has an adenoidal voice perfect for his bouncy pop arrangements and a wry wit that finds him examining small details of life and love. His persona is that of an earnest and occasionally manic nerd who sometimes doesn't know when to stop. In "Leftovers," the most full-bodied pop/rock arrangement, he expresses his frustration about a missing lover through references to food and neighbors, but ends up revealing why she left him in the first place: "And if you call, I'll be at home/But I won't necessarily answer the phone/I like to pretend that I'm screening my calls/So you won't know that I'm not doing anything at all." Nevertheless, he ends up being oddly lovable, if only because his sad sack reflections are set to such catchy music.