Tokyo Sex Destruction "Le Red Soul Comunnitte Has The Pleasure To Introduce…" 2003

Four men with funny accents, mod haircuts, black clothing, white belts and monochromatic ties playing a souped up blend of garage and soul mixed with hyper-political anti-capitalist lyrics. Sound familiar? Spain's brilliantly named Tokyo Sex Destruction may receive an A for stylistic effort on their American debut. They look the part and even have matching last names (Sinclair), in their attempts to invoke the spirit and style of such past greats as the MC5, the Ramones and Nation of Ulysses. Musically the band does an equally successful job of sounding like their respective influences. Tracks like "She's so fine", "You gotta do it" and "Black money" feature the soulful call and response vocals, guitar solos and handclaps that one could expect from any band delving into the world of political soul inflected garage rock. Yet it is the bands supposed selling points that is, in the end, the weakness of Le Red Soul Comunnitte. Every song is apparently, albeit competently, cut from a play by numbers Detroit songbook. The album is chock full of style and high intent, but it lacks the innovative grit needed to fully carry its message across to listeners whose ears have suffered under a deluge of similar bands within the past few years. The only truly stand out track is "Don't make try your love (song about love, about soul music)" due to its pleading vocal breakdown where the band begs you to love and to love soul music as well. Tokyo Sex Destruction may be trying hard to win our amorous affection but its going to take a lot more than what has become a cookie-cutter formula to win over little more than a handful of converts. - Charles Ubaghs

trax:
01 Break-Out Town 02 Yesterday Is Gone 03 She's So Fine 04 Black Money 05 First Day 06 Captialism Plus Dope Equal Genocide 07 Everything Is Right 08 You Gotta Do It 09 Don't Make Try Your Love (Song About Love, About Soul Music) 10 Le Red Soul Comunnitte