[CD REVIEW] Tookoo – Crystal Beat On The Dirty Dance EP (2009)

Please help me from making this horrible pun on the band’s name –– Sorry, I just can’t resist…Tookoo is seriously too cool.

Based on my impression with Crystal Beat on the Dirty Dance, the band is a hipster’s match made in heaven.  Playing out the rock star image down from head to toe –– if looks could be the judge for music quality, my bets would be on them.  But the truth of the matter is that I cannot help but feel lukewarm towards their music.

In essence, Tookoo’s music strikes a delicate balance between the electro beats of The Killers and the garage rock aesthetic of The Strokes.  The quality of the music is consistent to the aforementioned bands, covering all bases from having a handsome and enigmatic front man to writing simple and catchy guitar lines.  Based on the above, Tookoo almost sounds like a sure fire recipe for success.  Well, this probably is the case, but my personal gripe with the band is that the music is too attuned to this aesthetic.  At no given time do I hear anything that is exceptionally unique about the band.  The melodies have a very Western sounding vibe, and the music really does not push the envelope in terms of offering anything that is distinctly Asian, even the language that singer Shuai Yan chooses to sing in is English.

Do not get me wrong, this release is definitely solid –– all the tracks here are catchy and tuneful with the band taking few missteps.  The only thing that holds me back from giving this release a really high score is the originality factor.  With bands like The Killers and The Strokes available for anyone’s music pleasure, I just do not see a special reason to give Crystal Beat….Dance a spin.

Maybe I am missing something, but the band may in fact be too cool for me to appreciate.

Recommended tracks: 01, 02

Track Listing:
01. Noise VS. Crystal Beat
02. 20th Century Futurama
03. Dirty Dance
04. High Fly

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lojun

I like to spend my time on the internet searching for the meaning of life. When I am not doing this you can find me listening to music or playing the bass…or stuffing myself silly on Burritos.

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