When Brooklyn-based TV on the Radio released 2004's epic "Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes" they stunned audiences and critics alike with their unbridled sonic breadth and shrewd socially conscious lyrics, earning them a much-coveted Shortlist Music Prize that year.
TVOTR attempts to emulate that success with this week's release of a follow-up effort entitled, "Return to Cookie Mountain."
Contrary to what the title may suggest, "Return to Cookie Mountain" isn't a revisiting of the urgent and often ambient brooding that was "Desperate Youth." Instead, it is an enhancement on their proven talent.
In departing from "Desperate Youth," TVOTR tones down the fuzzbass that permeated that album, choosing to accentuate less preeminent sounds on this set of songs. The best example of this can be found in the horn samples and sitar of "I Was a Lover" which combine with the drum machine's breakbeats to enact a completely novel sound for the band. Also of note is the eerily dissonant, yet somehow still pleasing piano in "Province."
"Province" is a departure not just in its instrumental elements, but also in a vocal sense. Whereas TVOTR vocals were predominantly handled by lead singer Tunde Adepimbe, he shares singing responsibilities on this one with none other than David Bowie.
The emotional apex of the album occurs directly in the middle with "Method"-another example of TVOTR's tendency toward deconstructed doo-wop. In this song, a sparse tambourine drives the rhythm while somber, distorted guitar toils away with gossamer piano faintly behind it. Employing raw, yet poetic lyrics ("there's a purple cane strangling yesterday/ There's a purple stain spat up on interstates"), the song becomes a sort of funereal ode to urbanity.
One song later, the band revisits that style in "Dirtywhirl," but with grittier, more driving instrumentation. Still, both of these tracks remain coherent and accessible.
At first, it seems that TVOTR hits pitfalls with "Blues from Down Here" and the clincher, "Wash the Day," since the two tracks sound as if they could be b-sides from "Desperate Youth." But upon a closer listen, the quasi-dance rock drumming in the former and return of the sitar in the latter seem to legitimate their presence on this album.
It is interesting that "Return to Cookie Mountain" was released stateside more than two months later than its international release date on July 3. The band formed directly after Sept. 11, and since their lyrics often deal with the consequences of the event, it is only logical that this was a symbolic gesture on the band's part.
To wait and release "Return to Cookie Mountain" the day after the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11 suggests reverence for the day as a socio-cultural and political watershed event and is a source of gravitas for the band.
Many TVOTR songs have thus far contained politically charged messages and especially antiwar sentiments, nostalgia for a pre-Sept. 11 world, and displeasure for the post-Sept. 11 one. (For example, just last fall, the band's Web site offered the free download of anti-Bush anthem
"Dry Drunk Emperor" in response to the handling of Hurricane Katrina). "Return to Cookie Mountain" is no different. In fact, Adepimbe's opening crooning on this new album goes, "I was a lover/ Before this war."
Not only the lyrics, but the music itself suggests a preoccupation with the militaristic notions TVOTR feels are currently saturating American society. The precision drumming of "Hours" and "Let the Devil In" cannot help but conjure military-related images in the listener's mind.
While "Return to Cookie Mountain" is different from past releases, it is not a stark departure from TVOTR's usual aesthetic elements, and the album is still recognizably TVOTR's brainchild.
This new album brings forth a slew of distinctive songs in which TVOTR uses more varied instrumentation and less ambient noise to construct more lucid tracks. TVOTR has chosen clarity over tension and all the while are able to retain the intricacy of their music.
"Return to Cookie Mountain" is TVOTR's Interscope label debut. The difference in production quantity is clear when comparing this album to the band's past releases. It goes without saying that the jump from indie label Touch and Go to a major company has been beneficial for the band. The augmented production budget has made their songs clearer: Their sonic scope is more easily appreciated and their underlying messages are easier to hear.
The result is a significant, enjoyable and powerful rock record, one that will surely bring to fruition even more accolades for this band.
