Tokyo Police Club’s long-awaited LP Elephant Shell stumbles short of The Strokes meets Grandaddy mark of brilliance we were pining for these past few months. After much MP3 wear & tear, we find it to be more a scattered handful of coruscating minor stones. The lines are present, unfortunately, they’re buried under some less-than-memorable language. Songs begin nervous, spoken-worded, only to burst blood vessels a full 30 seconds later. Why not lose the candle-lit prologues and begin with electricity? (Don’t feel you have to get back to us on that point.) Despite the clouds, “In A Cave,” “Tessellate,” “Your English Is Good,” “Juno,” and “Graves” are as polished as anything off A Lesson In Crime and will be welcomed warmly in a live setting.