- Tokyo Police Club made waves in early 2008 with their debut, Elephant Shells and subsequent succession of impressive tour slots with indie-heavy weights like Weezer and slots on major festival circuits in the US and Europe. The trend continued after the release of their sophomore album, Champ in 2010, however after that the band largely dropped off even the indie radar as they embarked on an unofficial hiatus. When rumours began that the band were in the studio and set to release a new album in 2014, it seemed that the world would once again be graced with another socially progressive, dirty indie-pop record – the kind that made Death Cab For Cutie cool.

Instead what listeners of Forcefield are likely to encounter is an overproduced, under-written remake of everything that makes you cringe at your misguided commitment to Panic! At The Disco or All American Rejects before you knew any better. Opening with Argentina (Parts I, II, III) the record immediately slumps into clichéd pop riffs and uninspired lyrics drawn together with nauseatingly slick production.

In fairness the band have been away from the music game for a few years and it’s probably unreasonable to expect them to have an unaltered sound, but it doesn’t entirely explain why they’ve regressed to the indie-emo guitar pop of the early 2000s. Lead single Hot Tonight stands as the link between old and new, successfully marrying an edgy Strokes-esque guitar riff with the new production style.

Miserable, Gonna Be Ready and Beaches can’t be faulted for their adherence to the Tokyo’s new pop sensibilities. The latter picks up – in a sense – from where Foster The People left off with their debut: plenty of fun synths, a good guitar melody and smooth vocals that all work well together.

Tunnel Vision is a redeeming curve ball that appears about two thirds of the way into the record, it’s the closest the band get to the dirty, darker pop of their previous releases. Perhaps if this was any other band’s album the qualities that make Forcefield a disappointment would make it a pop triumph, but it begs the question if it ‘ain’t broke,’ why did Tokyo Police Club try and fix it?

- Clare Armstrong.