RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN - TV ON THE RADIO
Hipster eyebrows were raised when Brooklyn experimentalists TV on the Radio traded up from Touch & Go to Interscope, but luckily their sophomore album is no less wonderfully weird than their acclaimed indie releases. Yep, that’s David Bowie emitting vocal harmonies on the sublime “Province.” But TVOTR keeps it real via the horn-inflected “I Was a Lover,” the accelerated groove of “Wolf Like Me” and the fuzzed-out “Playhouses,” which is chock-full of trippy, distorted feedback. There’s a renewed socio/political emphasis in the lyrics as well, particularly on “Hours” and “Blues From Down Here.” And with its tribal drums, nearly chanted vocals and imposing wall of white noise, eight-minute closer “Wash the Day Away” proves that while TVOTR now record for just another major label, their music is more distinctive than ever. Billboard
