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.