Search - TV on the Radio :: Young Liars

A forward-looking EP

Nicole H. Katano | Los Angeles, CA United States | 02/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The basic form of this album isn't hard to understand - fantastic, R&B-inflected vocals and harmonies, metallic guitar clanging in the background, throbbing bass, electronic beats, along with a shot of great production. The overall result, however, is a downright fantastic EP.Track by track:
"Satellite" - The EP opens with this uptempo number, with bass and drums throbbing like a mechanical heartbeat and the guitar grinding ominously in the distance. The vocals are soulful, yet sad and detached, floating over the verse to a rhythmic, harmonized chorus that matches the drive of the instruments. Near the end, the music moves into dreamier variations on the theme created. Great song."Staring at the Sun" - A standout track. It opens with a pair of dreamy, falsetto vocals, harmonized beautifully. Then the bass arrives. The fuzzy tremolo bass underlies the rest of the song, just barely off time with the simple drum machine, and provides a throbbing, organic backdrop for the melody. The vocal melodies cover a vast range, with their doo-wap harmonies and soulful wails, painting a vision at once apocalyptic and transcendent as the guitar adds texture to the background."Blind" - This track is longer and slower, having moved fully into the hallucinatory dream mood of the previous songs. The vocals are increasingly wistful, with the beautiful melodies placed over yet another variation of the throbbing bass, constant drumbeat, and wash of guitar-generated noise. The track approaches the ambient, pulled back to reality by the desperation and resignation in the vocals. As the track ends, it melts into a soft wash of noise."Young Liars" - A 6/8 drumbeat and bassline, with just a hit of keyboard, form the backing for the verses, creating plenty of sonic space for the vocals to fill. Again, the melodies are more akin to doo-wop or soul than rock, and harmonies appear around the edges. This might be the weakest of the four tracks, but it is still fabulous by normal definitions."Mr. Grieves" - This hidden track is an acapella cover of a song by The Pixies. Fabulous harmonized vocals, and a completely creepy, sinister mood that is perfectly in keeping with the original, despite the new arrangement. Like an evil jazz chorus or barbershop quartet, with the harmonized lead melody backed by moaned harmonies and soft finger snaps. Brilliant.All in all, this is an amazing EP. Even though there is a certain formula in the creation of the first four tracks, that formula is in a style unlike anything common to today's music. TV on the Radio have fused doo-wap, soul, techno, and Radiohead-esqe rock into a coherant whole that is as forward-looking as it is beautiful."

Best EP of 2003

Michael A. Keefe | Portland, OR USA | 01/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was surprised to see some negative reviews for this EP, which I find endlessly listenable. There's no accounting for taste, I guess. Still, it's hard for me to believe that anyone wouldn't love Tunde Adebimpe's voice - so effortlessly cool, emotive and with a great sense of timing in his delivery. The music, too, is excellent, evoking for me a more serious Fun Boy Three crossed with Peter Gabriel's third self-titled album (aka, "Melt") - spare and almost creepy, but with an undercurrent of playfulness and some cool rhythms. There's a hypnotic mimimalism to the forms of the songs that I think provide a great tableau for both the musical textures that the band conjures up and for Adebimpe's loose vocal style, none of which would work as well in a standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus song structure.
The four originals on this album are all excellent and get better with each listen. Their drugged-out doo-wop cover of the Pixies' "Mr. Grieves" is entertaining on occasion, but maybe runs a little too long. Fortunately, they had the good sense to place it last on the EP. Young Liars promises great things for the forthcoming album from this emerging band."

A promising debut, and more

Daniel Cherney | Boston, MA | 08/09/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What a pleasant surprise - TV on the Radio has a sound that is unique and addictive, some sort of twisted indie-dirty blues-kid a hybrid that left me salivating for more. Of note is the hypnotic opener Satellite, the growling spiritual Blind and a truly inspired acapella cover of The Pixies' Mr. Grieves that left me in awe of this band and Tunde Adebimpe's vocal prowess. There will be comparisons to Peter Gabriel, prog rock and the recent crop of throwback bands, but it's more complex and satisfying than that would lead one to believe. I'm in eager anticipation for a full length, this EP is more than enough to convince me something very special may be on it's way."