TV on the Radio - Dear Science

Two years since they took the indie crowd by storm with Return to Cookie Mountain, New York City's TV on the Radio are back with Dear Science. Released on Sept. 23rd, the album shot to #12 on the Billboard charts, 29 spots higher than Cookie Mountain's summit.

TV on the Radio have been making experimental Afro-Jazz-Electro-Post-Punk-Rock since 2001, with four EPs and now four full lengths under their belts. The sound is urban, and that's the best way to describe it. Though the eight sets of recordings sound noticeably different, each could easily be the soundtrack to a cement stroll.

The album kicks off with "Halfway Home," the one track on the entire album that sounds like it could have been included on Cookie Mountain. It's as back to the roots as TV on the Radio can get, comprised of industrial beats under electronically distorted guitar riffs that eventually culminate into a danceable guitar solo with a hint of synth.

But if you want danceable, "Golden Age" is where it's at. The picked out rhythm over the cymbal heavy background shakes the body and soul together. As the first single from Dear Science, it embodies the change in sound from the melodrama and darkness that enveloped Cookie Mountain (check out the video at the end of the post).

That isn't to say Dear Science doesn't have its dark moments. The subtleties of "Stork and Owl" make it haunting. "DLZ" creeps into the head for completley different reasons. It's a tragic song, oozing in imagery of horrific accidents and the rejection of the perception that death is the end of things.

The album's second single is "Dancing Choose," a head banging, almost hip-hop track. It's reminiscent of jumping around in crowded clubs, loud but cheery music controlling every inch of your body. Like a religious revival for your musical soul, it absorbs into your mind in a way no TV on the Radio track has ever done before. And when the horns come in, be ready to lose your mind.

Long time fans of TV on the Radio may be initially shaken by the pressence of such upbeat tunes, but the musicianship and the effort we are used to from the band are still there. After a listen through the entire disc, Dear Science is the best and most accesible record by NYC's favorite genre benders.

"Golden Age"