The Tokyo Smash The Scene Queen Reigns Supreme

I took one look at this record and the accompanying press release and knew it was going to be garbage. Bad band name CHECK. Bad song titles CHECK. Bad record title DOUBLE CHECK. The band features former members of As I Lay Dying, the Agony Scene and Thirty Called Arson. If you were the guys that couldn't cut it in bands like this, wouldn't it follow that your band is going to be even less good and original The Tokyo Smash is pop/emo/punk/core in all its glorious wretchedness, masquerading under the newly coined term "Mosh and Roll." If it wasn't for the catchiness of some of these songs, I would probably just stop and leave it at that, but the Tokyo Smash have managed to win me over, at least a little bit, and for that they deserve a fair chance. Whlie the band claims their intention is to "breathe life into an otherwise stagnant music scene where apathy is the new black," their real motives seem to be to get their hands into underage girls' panties and their pictures onto their bedroom walls. Let's not kid ourselves here, eh guys If word starts getting around about this record, their rockstar dreams might all come true. Less rockin' than Underoath, less catchy than Brand New and infinitely less talented than either, the Tokyo Smash have still written seven memorable tunes strong enough musically to forgive their hokey lyrics. Aside from the occassional scream and some dueling guitar lines, there's nothing remotely metal here, but they do emo and pop-punk as capably as any of their contemporaries. One thing I like about this record that I often find repulsive about this sort of thing is the production. I'm pretty sure that if you gave them the time and money, this would end up being over-produced, but as it stands, the barebones aproach here works very well. In the end, the lack of slick production helps the moments of musical inspiration shine through, as in "Crush's Got Gas Money Too," when group sung vocals come in to compliment screaming and it really does sound like the Tokyo Smash could've been the first band to ever do it. Bottom Line: There's no reason that I would ever hear a song by this band and go out and buy this record, but I certainly didn't mind listening to it. The only situation in which I would really recommend this record is if you find it cheap or you have worn out all your other sensitive scenester CDs. The Tokyo Smash are good enough at what they do to keep me from hating them and, quite frankly, that's saying a lot.