TV ON THE RADIO

Dear Science

(Interscope)

When did TV on the Radio get funkafied? After a few electro-indie releases, most notably 2006's much-lauded Return to Cookie Mountain, the Brooklyn band had finally fleshed out to a five-member lineup. It would make sense for them to finally focus on just being a rock band. All factors seemed to be leading in that direction. But Dear Science subverts those expectations.

TVOTR's third album finds them shifting backward into blippy loops and synthetic hiphop. Not to say that there aren't tracks, like opener "Halfway Home," that segue predictably from the style of Cookie Mountain, but when "Crying" follows it with a reverbed drum loop and a guitar line that could've come straight from Prince's greasy fingers, things get weird. While TVOTR have always had a distinctive doo-wop/soul aspect, this time they're cruising into "midnight dance club/take your sweaty shirt off 'cause it's hot in here, girlfriend" territory. And it works.

It works because these guys can borrow a Bootsy bass line or an INXS orchestra without losing what still makes them TVOTR, which mainly boils down to the vocals of that crazy-named Tunde Adebimpe. His ability to dip into rap without sounding half-cocked and his trademark addictive high croon work in the same way that Thom Yorke's singular voice defines Radiohead.

In some ways, it's disappointing that TVOTR didn't decide to follow the seemingly logical path of emphasizing rock more, because Dear Science probably could have been a damn fine rock record. But instead, the record is surprising and questionable, and demands that you go back to the beginning after the last song ends, to try to figure out what makes them so compelling.