Tv on the Radio - Dear Science, (9/22 and 9/23)

God I'm glad you're back, Abed. Thanks for the heads-up on this one, I love me some TVOTR like crazy.

Haven't read the rundown at that link yet, but I've become a fan of these guys this year and look forward to this. They're one of only a few new bands from this decade that really grab me, actually. Thanks Ray.

I own their first(or breakthrough, anyway) disc and it's fantastic. I slacked off and never got the second, I need to remedy that. And get this one now, I suppose.

I saw these guys open for NIN on the With_Teeth tour, and was sadly really disappointed. One of the singers' timing was wayyy off. I'm not sure, but I think he must have been wasted on something. They sounded terrible.
I'm not sure these guys are suited for big shows like that anyway, so maybe it's for the best. Maybe I can catch them at a small venue sometime and withhold final judgment on their live act until then.

Your TVOTR experience kind of reminds me of seeing The Mars Volta open for the Chili Peppers a couple of years ago. If I'd been stoned to the gills on something, MV's epileptic nightmare light show + super-sloppy-spastic-freakouts could have seemed heavenly or perhaps an exaggerated version of the hell I was in without the help of chemical-induced magnification. I still feel undecided on what to make of MV overall, but that live show was a frickin' mess. A few years prior, I'd picked up De-Loused in the Comatorium. Really dug it at first, but eventually developed a distaste for it and traded my copy away. A year or so later, I decided to give them another try. Picked up a new copy of the same album, but never did totally warm up to it again. Maybe their sound just intrigues me more than I actually like their music. And that brings me back around to TV On the Radio because, although I do really like a lot of their songs, others I admire more than I want to hear again and again. But I appreciate certain aspects of their sound/style/approach so much that I can see TVOTR becoming one of my favorite bands with a bit of fine tuning. If Dear Science totally owns me when I hear it, of course that would be amazing. But even some solid tunes from these guys (or from anybody!) would be nice right now. For me, 2008 has generally SUCKED for new music.

They're only pretty good in small venues, too, in my experience. We saw them at a pretty small venue when they were touring for Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, and it was far looser than you'd expect from the albums. It was entertaining enough, and I give them props for not sticking too closely to the recorded versions, but they hadn't quite found their footing as a touring act - the rhythm section was a little sloppy. Return to Cookie Mountain seemed to reflect the touring lineup sound a little more, though, so they're probably better equipped to play those songs live.

I saw them several times during the release period of the first E.P. and Desperate Youth, in various venues. (Small club, large club, theatre and at the Siren Festival on Coney.) They were never better than OK, and often seemed to be actively missing something. The sloppy rhythm section was definitely a problem, but in general they were just off. Consistently.

Consequently I never saw them tour Cookie Mountain, and it'll take a load of good YouTube proof from this upcoming tour to get me to pop for them again.

Damn Russ. It took FOUR underwhelms to teach you to stop going to their shows.

You know how it goes. They're playing with someone else you want to see, or at a festival, whatever. Talk to me about being in high school in West Texas, where you'd go see whatever rock show came to town, and how I consequently saw Great White seven or eight times.

That's my issue. I don't really care one way or the other about TV on the Radio, but the Dirtbombs are opening for them here. Somebody buy me a ticket. I'll be your best friend.

I'm just glad (but surprised) you never gave up the will to live after that much Great White.

In case you haven't noticed, my computer is shitting itself lately. Which explains this here duplicate I'm editing.

The best one I could find: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku74U19vRNs

I've seen them twice and was completely underwhelmed as well. They're like a reverse Man Man - great on record, merely okay live.

Jeez, I'll stand up for the guys. I've seen them twice, and enjoyed both sets. First, they opened for The Faint in 2004. As far as I remember, they weren't too sloppy, and they did a few interesting alternate versions (the beatbox "Ambulance" stands out the most).

Last year they headlined Variety (same venue), and I was front and center. What was that odd group with the female singer that opened for them? Oh, the Noisettes. They were alright. That band came out and played with TVOTR on a couple of songs, so there were like 17 people on stage at times.

Uh, anyway, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Fewer oddball versions of songs, I think, but some great, loud rockin'. I just really like their sound, whatever the medium. Looking forward to the new album, and will probably attend the show at the Tabernacle.

Dirtbombs are awesome, eh?

I'm seeing people bitch about the cover to this disc, but I think it's so much better than the awful, AWFUL 4AD-ized stuff on Cookie Mountain. This is at least in line with the design of the EP, LP and single that preceded Cookie.

Yeah, I'm even more pumped for this. I've still got Return to Cookie Mountain lurking around on my MP3 player and it's getting just as much play as that fucking Black Kids album lately, if not more.

Just listened to this and I'm really digging it so far. My feelings on a song can always change, but I want this on my iPod NOW.

That song just increased my excitement in this record ten fold.

I saw them live when they were opening for the Faint and I remember liking their set a lot but that was also my introduction to them.

Couldn't help it like everything else that gets leaked these days...

Not thrillingly exciting as Return to cookie mountain but a great album,
the opening Halfway Home is just jaw dropping, Stork & Owl, Family Tree, DLZ
heck I really like Dancing Choose.


Can't wait to see em live again.

Saw them live at the Trocadero in Philly on 4/20/07. I became a pretty big fan of theirs shortly before they released Return to Cookie Mountain, so I was pretty excited to see them live. It's not one of the better shows I've seen, but it wasn't bad. Of course, the Troc caught anyone trying to sneak weed in, which was kind of funny because the band was obviously pretty stoned, and one of the first things they said was HAPPY 4/20 EVERYBODY!

Still, good time. Looking forward to the next disc. And that single is pretty good.

Now when's that new Autolux album coming out?

Dancing Choose is kinda rocking my life right now.

What a shitty cover. Fuck.

Needed some new music to listen to, so just downloaded the leaked CD. The first track, Halfway Home, is kicking my ass right now.

Edit: Album is giving me more of a Desperate Youth vibe than Cookie Mountain, which is fine with me.

Glad to hear it. Looking forward to this jam. Comic book writer Matt Fraction posted about it the other night on Twitter, and I was amused:

mattfraction: new TVOTR, what the fuck ARE you? 09:18 PM September 15, 2008
mattfraction: seriously, it's like prince produced it. 10:41 PM September 15, 2008

Yea, I'm totally digging this album. Definitely my new album to listen to while I'm driving. Not a bad track on it.

'Shout Me Out,' is giving me a nice TVOTR channels Tom Petty vibe. Pretty sweet.

I love me some "Dancing Choose".

Looks like there will be a Deluxe Edition of the CD. Best Buy's gonna sell it for $13. $10 for the regular. Any clues as to what the Deluxe might offer?

I've been listening to this all day and so far I'm slightly disappointed by NOTHING. It's fucking awesome. Return to Cookie Mountain was my intro to this band and while good, I liked Desperate Youth better once I finally got it. Need to digest Dear Science more to say for sure, but this just might be their best album yet. Between this and Kings of Leon, I'm so glad I'll finally have some great new music to get off on next week.

ETA: Anyone know if there will be anything else on the deluxe edition that's not yet been mentioned here?

I'm the old guy who tries not to download shit via bit torrent and actually wait for the release date (and I really wanted to pick this up on vinyl anyway).

Man, am I glad it did. The vinyl sounds beautiful and after first listen I'm ready to call this album of the year thus far. Beautifully crafted, beautifully sung...and that's one big difference between this and Cookie Mountain. Sure, the singing was good on their last record, but it's almost as if they reigned it in a little in comparison to Desperate Youth and their first EP. Here, their vocals soar and their harmonies lift the sonic landscape of each song into something monumental, they carry the listener through each track as a guide, questioning them all the way. Beautiful music through and through.

I'm also impressed by their ability to have a different sound on each record while still sounding like TV on the Radio. They're one of those bands. We're never going to get the same thing twice.

The cover sucks, but the vinyl has nice nice gate fold artwork.

Not a fan of their older work, but I'm in love with this album. I don't think I've been this pleasantly surprised by an album since Apologies to the Queen Mary.

Bought the standard edition this afternoon*. Should I hold off on tearing into this and go upgrade to the Deluxe version instead?

*Got this, the new Kings of Leon, and the Special Edition DVD of Unforgiven all for around $30 at Best Buy today.

I think you can listen to the bonus tracks at that link posted above, then decide.

You'll be happy to know that nothing's changed. Hinder and Nickelback just played Dos Amigos and Huey Lewis just played at the Coliseum. I give up.

Same here. This album is going to drive me back to the older stuff to see what I missed. Loving Red Dress to pieces.

Just listened to the bonus stuff on last.fm and it's all bleh. I'll stick with the regular version I bought. Suggest you not spoil a perfectly good listening experience by doing the same.

I'll just run out and replace my stereo then. I don't want TV on the fucking Radio to be disappointed with me.

I've heard they've been making snap inspections. If they find a Sanyo under the floor boards they shoot you in the head. They're like the SS.

Just wanted to chime in and say that since I bought the album off iTunes a few weeks back it has not left my ears.

I'm stunned by how much I like it. I jumped on the TV-train with Return to Cookie Mountain, and while I dug the hell out of their sound it didn't smack me around like Dear Science is doing.

They've hit a real sweet spot between the 'art rock' thing they've been doing and a certain odd accessibility that really opens their sound up. It's thorny and inviting all at once, and that's a great combination.

Current fave tracks:

Family Tree
Red Dress
DLZ

And despite the general lacklusterness of the bonus tracks, "Heroic Dose" is kind of awesome, weird french guy and all.

The one track that isn't clickig for me yet is the first one: "Halfway Home". I usually skip straight to "Crying" and go from there.

Way late to the party. A friend who I got hooked on "Staring at the Sun" years ago bought me this as a gift the other day. I love it. I never did get around to hearing their second disc, but I definitely need to get it now.
I hate to make the Radiohead comparison, and I realize I missed Cookie Mountain, but the progress this band has made is amazing. Both had forgettable debut albums with one or two great songs, then truly found their footing and made something amazing(way too early for me to call this one a classic).
TV on the Radio already had an advantage over Radiohead from the get-go though, as they sounded like nothing I'd heard before, while Yorke and Co. were covered in U2 juice.
I haven't slept, so sorry for incoherent rambling. This album is rad.

Return to Cookie Mountain is more of a guitar-driven rock album, isn't it? Or have I been misinformed? Funny, that's my favorite song still after several listens.

As much as I love TV on the Radio, this is fucked up. You're saying Pablo Honey and The Bends are like U2?

The Bends, not so much, but there's a bit of U2 influence on those discs, especially Pablo Honey. I hear it, anyway.
Could just be me imagining things, it's been known to happen. "Covered in U2 juice" was certainly a poor bit-o-phrasin' on my part. It's more like a slight touch of the juice.

Either way, I doubt I've heard most of the music that influenced TV on the Radio. Or Radiohead, for that matter. Both bands seem to be melting pots.

To me, TVOR's influences seem to be a mix of Pere Ubu, Bowie and Gabriel.

Best band out there and criminally unknown to the masses.

Which btw is a horrible, horrible piece of work (Calculator, not Computer).

I prefer Cookie Mountain to Dear Science, but that's like saying "I want that gold bar over there rather than this one."