All Signs Point to Yes – By Dave Monks was a set of six, mellow songs released mid-June introducing the artist as a solo act. You may not recognize the name straight away, but you may have heard of Tokyo Police Club which Monk normally fronts. Stepping away from the band he released the EP on his own. The songs are definitely a cohesive set, and a change from the high energy-garage rock of TPC. Though, knowing the background, it’s difficult not to compare his work as a solo artist and his work with TPC, which seems a tad unfair to anyone trying to set a sound all of their own.

It pains me that the EP didn’t really meet expectations.The EP had a somber theme of paced, well thought-out lyrics with an underlaying sentiment. But the EP fails to add any excitement which makes you want to jump into the next track. The overall tone make each song sound slightly similar. After only a few songs in, one can find themselves into a rather boring listen. The nice thing about the contrast between what we’ve heard from Monks before and from his own work is the change. It was nice to hear a different kind of music from the artist, it just may not have been as thrilling as one would hope.