TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
Should you buy this album? Do bears enjoy defecating in wooded areas? It’s bloody brilliant, and incredibly original.
Saxophones. Surely one of the greatest instruments of all time? (Along with the Kazoo and Theremin of course) TV On The Radio certainly thinks so, and chooses it to open their debut album, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes. Based in NYC, you could be forgiven for expecting them to shamelessly imitate the glut of the many similar sounding new wave bands to have come out of New York in recent months. However, their initial offering promises much, much more.
A usual review would probably include a quick résumé of a new band’s obvious influences; however a quick listen to this cacophony of aural delight would probably leave everyone from Mr. John Peel to Jools Holland staring forlornly at their shoelaces. It is impossible to pin them down into any one category, as they transform fluidly from modern jazz motifs in the opening track, “The Wrong Way” to Barbershop Quartet-esque vocals by track five, “Ambulance.”
Their quite frankly lovely single “Staring at the Sun” is typical of Tunde Adebimpe’s quite frankly abstract and far out lyrics. Katrina Ford’s additional backing vocals give this standout track an eerily haunting quality and can’t help but add to the evocative nature of their libretto. (Guess who found their thesaurus.)
Did I mention the Guitarist’s Afro is the BEST AFRO EVER? Yes, even better than Felix da Housecat’s fantabulous barnet, guy.
About halfway through “Poppy” is the albums defining moment. Just when you feel that the repetitive tribal drumbeat might be etched on your noggin forever and that TV On The Radio may be nothing more than a trick pony (albeit the sexiest pony ever) a glorious A Capella section kicks in, and the track builds up again to an almost orgasmic climax. This trend is carried through to the final track “Wear You Out,” a marathon of musical layering so deep you fear the poor guys may be suffocating underneath it all. However, they manage to carry it off supremely smoothly, without ever sounding repetitive in one nanosecond of the tracks seven minutes; a fantastic summary track to let wash over you and wrap up a glorious debut album.
Should you buy this album? Do bears enjoy defecating in wooded areas? It’s bloody brilliant, and incredibly original. Even if you’re not usually a fan of jazzy music, you should check this out. Perhaps the only complaint to be levelled at this is that the drumming is a bit weak, and they tread the fine line between creative and clustered songs pretty tightly, but I fail to see how anyone could not listen to this and be astounded. Pretty damn good.
(Touch & Go Records)