This Melbourne foursome have been around for a few years now, receiving enthusiastic reviews for their mesmeric live shows and doing reasonably well on community radio play lists. Having only released a very limited number of demo recordings since 2006, Artefacts has obviously been a long time coming.

All four modestly lengthed tracks on Artefacts comprise of jagged rhythms paired with pointy vocals-much reminiscent of Jello Biafra, producing a sound that would sit comfortably at home in the early eighties. The standout track is the percussive “Ladies in Vogue” however all tracks stand up to potential single release with choruses that contain just enough charisma to be catchy but not quite clichéd.

Tic Toc Tokyo may not necessarily have the most original sound - clearly paying homage to their punkish new wave influences. However Artefacts presents listeners with the enormous potential the band have for a kicking live show, one that would surely live up to the reputation they seem to have already built within the Melbourne live scene.

Anyway, I really dig it.

The band are officially launching Artefacts at Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club on the 15th of March and then again at Sydney’s Gaelic Club on the 20th with other cities to follow.

(Artefacts is out now through MGM Distribution)