TV On The Radio

Dear Science

Written by: PP on 18/12/2008 15:44:59

Album of the year according to Rolling Stone magazine? Perfect 10/10 scores from at least six other magazines, including the Q Magazine, with 92% from Pitchfork Media? Universal acclaim from a number of other publications according to metacritic.com? Just what the hell is going on here? I know that TV On The Radio is supposed to be 'the next big thing' from the indie rock scene, they've been buzzed about for at least a year and a half now, and they're regarded as pretty much the second coming of Jesus Christ by almost all the mainstream magazines...but come on, really? I mean "Dear Science" is good, and certainly close to the highest ranks of indie rock, but it isn't the album of the fucking year. All this hype pisses me off because bands like Copeland, Foals and Portugal. The Man who are infinitely better than TV On The Radio are being overlooked and aren't getting the fame that their songs deserve.

To their credit though, TV On The Radio are a pretty original bunch. I've never heard indie rock mixed with electro beats, experimentalism and R&B/chart music like this without it sounding pretentious as hell, so job well done there. Every now and then the band even manages a killer chorus such as on "Dancing Choose", listen to this song for a great example of how to get something super-glued into our collective minds. But for the most part, the band's songs do little more than annoy the living shit out of me with their idiotic R&B parts - however well they are incorporated into the music - of which the Justin Timberlake-esque "Red Dress" is a perfect example. I hate that guy and so should you, and this song has the same stupid arrogance attitude and the belief that it's a great song when it really isn't more than a huge annoyance. Other mainstream pop culture references are aplenty as well, as "Family Tree" sounds like something that could've come out of the first two Coldplay albums, or alternatively out of any of U2's newer material.

But don't get me wrong here, it isn't all as terrible as I made it sound on that paragraph. Songs like "Shout Me Out", "Halfway Home" and "Crying" are exceptionally well done and deserve your attention, regardless your preferred genre. Not all of the songs are catchy as such, they are merely brilliantly written and have the sort of differentiation and experimentalism that any non-mainstream music fan is always looking for in the music they search. That's why fans of LCD Soundsystem, The National, Modest Mouse, Yeasayer, Broken Social Scene and the like will surely appreciate "Dear Science" much more than I do, which is a great testament of the sort of wide appeal TV On The Radio's music has. But album of the year? No chance, anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't heard enough new music in 2008.

7

Download: Dancing Choose, Shout Me Out, Family Tree
For the fans of: Yeasayer, LCD Soundsystem, Modest Mouse
Listen: Myspace

Release date 23.09.2008
DGC/Interscope

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