RIFF MARKET

TV on the Radio
Bowery Ballroom
April 18

Download: "Satellite"

Holy shit, so this is what all the indies who took swingdance lessons ten years ago are listening to now. "This is a jumping song," Tunde introduced one song. "Yeah, it's a jump jive and wail song," I added in my head, hilariously. My friend Matt agreed. "It's an important jump." Apparently both of us have dropped several thousand dollars on swing lessons.

Still can't tell if the Beatles-be-gone rock revisionism at play here has teeth beyond gosh gees and holy molars, but I forgot how much I like these guys. Especially that first EP, I remember just being so impressed at how fearless these guys were. They did Touch & Go, so violently white and kill rock's blackness a label, but they fucked with blues scales and gospel changes almost exclusively, and I felt like they were getting away with something, like when my dad and I would watch Joe Jackson Live in Tokyo on Christmas eve while my mom furiously wrapped the presents, or the existence of Huey Lewis and the News in general.

There's still a bit of 'good singer=bad band, bad singer=good band' mangled logic leftover from decades of punk/DIY misinterpretation too, so to me Tunde singing as well as he does takes some manner of balls. Maybe that only makes sense to us talented singers? Lots of times a TS will be at a friend's birthday party, and everybody knows he's a TS, and when "Happy Birthday" comes around the TS will intentionally sing poorly so as not to seem like he's hamming it up on somebody else's big day. Tyondai, in contrast, etc.

Yet--and this is the fucked-up thing about TV on the Radio for me, beyond just not knowing the names of tunes last night--I can never remember a lick past that first EP. I know I enjoyed listening to Desperate Youth, thought it was pretty, but never really wanted to figure out why. I don't think a single sound this band's made really bothers me. Last night the guitars sounded really clangy hollow, very early Sonic Youth in spots too, and that's gravy. So maybe I don't remember hooks because the verses have too many words? Maybe the parts are too subservient to Tunde's pipes, no tug or pull kind of thing? Maybe I just haven't listened to the record enough? For instance, I love the shit out of Mobb Deep's "Pearly Gates" (featuring 50 Cent), but it took me at least three listens to figure out that 50 said "I'm special with the flow" and not "I'm special with the hoe."

So the catchiness question got to me a bit, why we value it, why it's become some sort of pop crit gold standard when most of us can't remember to do our laundry let alone the hook X from song Y by band Z, and fucking so on. We all know the answer but let's not name names. Granted it's not like TVOTR hasn't written some big catchy tunes--"Satellite" remains monster, so too "Ambulance" and a new song called "Dirty Little Whirlwind" could keep this band on Interscope if it gets the radio spins it deserves--but as I write this and listen to both the first EP and LP I like those songs even more than two hours ago. Imagine this: I picked up Young Liars because I thought "Young Liars" was a Liars tribute band, and "TV on the Radio" was a covers collection. I was really disappointed at first--no open hi-hat? But look where we are now.