Lo-Fi, High Art
TV On The Radio, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (Touch & Go)
By Paul Carnevale
It’s not often that an album sends me searching for my good pair of headphones and switching my player to repeat, but I found myself doing just that with Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, TV On The Radio’s 2004 full-length debut. The first few rotations will surprise you, but the hidden treasures keep emerging with subsequent listens.
TVOTR’s debut is a bluesy, layered landscape of drum tracks, spattering guitar effects and an unexpected array of horns that develop into dark, earthy, eclectic structures. Add that to crisp double-track a cappella lyrics, along with some old-world machinery and you have something extraordinary.
Being primarily a studio band that uses analog gear, old mics, a 4-track and Pro Tools, the sound produced by this Brooklyn outfit is unparalleled and unexpected. Co-founder (along with Tunde Adebimpe) David Sitek starts with a simple drum program, adds guitar tracks, scratch vocals, and finally a live bass guitar to fill in where needed. From there he admittedly plays the role of producer for days, going back and forth between the computer and tape until the precise combination is achieved and the finishing touches are laid down.
A rifling of fuzzy retro guitar, short punchy saxophone rushes, and in-your-face lyrics resembling Peter Gabriel come to fruition on the album’s first track. “The Wrong Way” haunts with its relentless pumping rhythm, yet provides all the unprocessed ingredients of a pop song, sans hook, climax and bridge. After declaring itself as a low-brow harmony, additional drum tracks and light atmospherics are carefully added, providing a wonderful intro into this band’s versatile repertoire.
This entire album is carefully produced without blurring or diffusing the richness of the band’s soulful sound. Sitek shows self-discipline in filling every hole and isn’t afraid of leaving enough space to keep me on my toes.
Adebimpe’s bright and soulful voice shines on the album’s second track, “Staring At The Sun.” His sky-high octaves tear through the synthesized strings and flat prodding baseline, surprising me with a gospel-like delivery on each verse and providing some spirited relief.
“Ambulance,” instantly transports me to TVOTR’s very own New York street corner, where the group decides to unplug their gadgets and gathers around a single mic and perform their own brand of intelligent doo-wop.
Kyp Malone’s reverberated guitar stabs repeat throughout the fantastic scenery in “Bomb Yourself,” which champions TVOTR’s organically designed craft. Heavy bass grooves repeat while the composition is comfortably minimized. Primal voices surge to the forefront producing a harmonic display that, as shocking as it is, would sound great over almost anything. Rather than exploding at the non-existent climax, the textures crumble, and simmer to a peaceful close.
On “Wear You Out,” the slow methodical drum track, guitar crooning and organ effects all combine for a steamy R&B love song about man’s eternal hunt for women. Experiencing this story proves worthy of holding out for the ninth track.
Although this album sounds as fresh as it did when originally released in 2004, David Sitek’s production still sounds like nothing else out there. I’m surprised by most of the songs on this album—one track easily moves in the opposite direction as the previous. Although this could qualify as lo-fidelity sound, please find yourself a good set of headphones and enjoy all the decisive moments.
