Customer Reviews

Young Liars

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

TV on the Radio debuted with the sizzly "Young Liars," a dark'n'stormy-night EP with faded graffiti scrawled on the edges. With the catchy minimalist music and Tunde Adebimpe's rich vocals, this is certainly something to give a second -- or third -- spin.

It kicks off with fuzzy guitar and thumpy percussion in the eerie "Satellite," before shifting to the softer-edged, spinning "Staring At the Sun," the hauntingly low-key "Blind," and the slow, funky "Young Liars." Hidden at the end is the doo-woppy, stoned-sounding cover of the Pixies' "Mr. Greives."

They can do rock. They can do depressed urban ballads. They can make halfway decent covers. TV on the Radio has a bit more soul and rhythm than many New York bands being produced now. Not to mention a more organic sound despite some synth-heavy sections.

Grinding reverb guitar, rocking bass and percussion are the driving forces of "Young Liars," although there are softer flourishes in a flittery flute that darts in and out like a moth. Tunde Adebimpe's rolling, deep vocals are the centerpiece of the EP, with a backup chorus that hints at a jazz band.

"Young Liars" is a promising hint of the future for TV on the Radio, and effectively whets the appetite for their full-length debut. A solid EP with a distinct musical style, rock with a hint of soul.

Four stars... only because i wish there were more here to listen to.
A startling debut ep by 3 guys i've never heard of... they're from new york, and i think the instrumentalist of the group is also a producer (produced debut lp by yeah yeah yeahs).
the music is a dense, layered and pulsing blend of distorted bass and synths, with simple yet tribal drum patterns buried within the mix.
The vocalist is what makes this effort shine... he can sing straight ahead tenor, sounding like peter gabriel mixed with simply red... and then sweep upward into a falsetto that sounds like no one else...
can't really describe this stuff too well.... just that i am floored.... and trust me, it takes a lot to floor me. i've heard it all.

I have seen TV on the Radio several times now, opening for bands like Interpol and the Pixies, and while I love both of those bands, it sure says something when the openers nearly steal the show. TV on the Radio is a band like that.

The Young Liars EP is a great introduction to the band. "Satellite" starts things off fast, while the single "Staring at the Sun" showcases the full dynamic range of this band. "Blind" follows at a slower pace, giving you time to catch your breath for the anthemic title track, "Young Liars," a song I admit I have on repeat quite a bit while I am in my office or the car. To close out this already great CD, a hidden track, a breathtaking and soulfully reimagined rendition of the Pixies classic "Mr. Grieves."

If you have been thinking about picking up something by TV on the Radio, take my advice and order the Young Liars EP. After a few short listens, you will be running out and picking up the New Health Rock single, and the amazing full length Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes.

i heard a track of this EP on kexp.org, and added it to my amazon wishlist immediately. so perhaps i already had a preliminary bias to like it.

the lead singer to me hints very strongly of a younger Peter Gabriel in terms of his vocal tones. in the liner notes it is noted that this whole ep was recorded in an apartment in brooklyn, but the production quality is actually really good.

the band seems to be an interesting combination of techno drumbeats and earthy reverb drenched guitar notes, all of which seemed combined into some kind of noise soaked soup that is held together by the lush vocal melodies, which always are on top of the mix. the vocals are often harmonized in interesting ways, and this really helps to capture the imagination. the final track, "Mister Grieves", is acappella, showing further the really nice vocal range of the lead singer(?).

the first track, Satellite, (the song that made me buy the EP) has a more rousing, rambling almost hectic guy on the run feel than the rest of the ep, which is a bit more laid back in terms of pacing. there's a rumbling bass line, and the chorus "waiting for a signal or a sound, where can you be found now," is very clever. most of the lyrics on this ep are witty in that way.

the second track, Staring At the Sun, has an almost funeral dirge type introduction...slow, wailing vocals, then the beat starts to pick up, and the lyrics are sung at a more rapid pace.

the third track, Blind, is an amazing, soulful, piece. very slow, but you'll be captured. this is probably the tune that most makes people think of Mr. Gabriel.

the fourth and title track, Young Liars, doesn't have a much faster pace, but it has an almost angry feel to it, at least in my interpretation.

speaking of interpretation, that makes this EP very interesting. various people i've played it to have had different emotions evoked in them when listening to it.

its most different from what you are hearing on mainstream radio today.

a shoutout to KEXP.org for turning me on to this great EP. i noticed that only 1 track from it made their full LP, which is too bad, but hopefully they still play these other songs at their shows.

recommended.

2003 has brought us some fine records by established bands, but Young Liars seems to me the front runner for best debut of the year. Ignore the fact that it's a 5-song ep, TV on the Radio have produced a completely coherent, stunning, statement of purpose. The music is electro with subtle, ever-shifting layers. The vocals are unreal. Few mainsream, trained singers are as expressive as Tunde Adibimpe, and forget about indie rock altogether. TV on the Radio already has a sound of their own, and look for a full-length from these guys to SLAY.

For me the first couple of listens to this EP didn't really do a lot for me. But for some reason I kept listening to it, and each time the music revealed more; things I hadn't picked up on in the first few spins started leaping out at me and I really started to appreciate how stunning this collection of songs is. Having said that, I can see how if your not into it, then you mightn't really appreciate the beauty. As I titled the review, this really is about the soundscapes that the band creates, the way that each element interacts with each part, and if you don't get it or enjoy it, then each to their own.

There isn't a dud song on here, "Satellite" is the opener it's a brilliant song and actually the first TVotR song I heard, way back when used (somewhat ironically, the lyrics taking on an alternative meaning) on Queer as Folk. It presents a complex group of sounds that make a cohesive whole and an interesting start.

"Staring at the Sun" carries on the urban sound, juxtaposed with a more honeyed sound. In "Satellite" it was the flutes, in "Staring at the Sun" its the a cappella start, that segues into the grittier urban sounds.

The next track "Blind" is a more downbeat, but retains the gritty beats with an element of sweetness that is intrinsic to the soundscape of the EP. Here the piano that can be heard underneath the other sounds is that touch that stops the song from being, well, completely depressing.

After "Blind" comes "Young Liars" the titular song and another interesting listen that keeps up the juxtapostioning of sounds. The cacophony of sounds that are presented here all work so, so well together and I think this is my favourite track on the EP (although I'd be hard pressed to rank the rest!).

Lastly the nearly a cappella cover of "Mister Grieves" is nothing short of brilliant, even without drums, instruments (well apart from their voices and what I think is a cello) or any electronic input. TVotR manage to keep the themes running though the music going, even enhancing them. It really shows that this is a group that understands how sounds work together to create texture and meaning.

All in all, I love how this EP works, its all gritty and urban, but each song has moments and elements that stop it from becoming bogged down or depressing. It really is an interesting listen, and one that grows on you each time you hear it, the dissonance and repetitive melodies that combine the gritty and sweet with brilliant lyrics, makes for something that can't be ignored, whether you love it or hate it.

3 years before the superb Return to Cookie Mountain, this really alternative band in today's music debuted with this forewarning EP, already filled with a sort of magnetism and a unique vocal roll, as seen by the cover of Pixie's "Mister Grieves" - the bonus track. "Satellite", "Staring at the Sun" and "Young Liars" are songs to listen to over and over again, truly the best suggestion I can give to everyone these days.