TV On The Radio

Political Scientists
TV On The Radio Make a Record for Right Now
By Andrew Clayman
Published in The Knoxville Voice, October 2008



The relentless funky rebellion that is the new TV On The Radio album has left me feeling defiant almost to a fault lately. If not for the steadying balance of several mind-numbing Presidential debates, I may very well have introduced this band as “another bunch of over-hyped Brooklynites,” just for the sake of a dissenting opinion. Truth be told, though, I agree with you, your dad, and every other rock critic in America. TV On The Radio is undoubtedly one of the most exciting and relevant groups in the Milky Way today.

The good news is, Jaleel Bunton doesn’t have any interest in what I think. As the man behind TVOTR’s precision percussion attack, Bunton has been hearing fairly unanimous songs of praise from critics since his band dropped its debut EP Young Liars in 2003. To his credit, though, such commendations have always gone in one ear and out the other.

“No offense, but I’ve never put much stock in what the press says,” Bunton explains. “And it’s not because there aren’t a lot of really great and knowledgeable people who write in the press. I just feel that if you’re going to believe them when they say you’re good, then you’ll have to believe them when they say you’re bad, too. As an artist, you need to believe in what you’re doing, and it can get in your head a little bit if you read too much about yourself.”

This is the humble mindset that the most inspiring rebels tend to exhibit. Or, as TVOTR cofounder and producer David Sitek puts it in their press materials, “A lot of bands have something to say. We have something to ask.”

If it’s been TV On The Radio’s mission to be social questioners as Bob Dylan or Public Enemy were before them, then new LP Dear Science, (comma included) may stand as the band’s crowning achievement. That’s not to say that Dear Science, is a protest record, however. It may not even be a political record, depending on your interpretations of singers Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone’s lyrics. Instead, TVOTR succeeds by pinpointing the heart of America’s collective mood—fearing the worst but pining to party like it’s 1999.

“Consciously, I’d think we’d always love to make music that mirrors the world,” Bunton says. “I think that’s what makes it relevant and universal and important. Also, consciously, I would never assume we could actually achieve that task [laughs]. But I’d like to think it always feels like an underlying current. If this album is successful in that respect, then I’m really happy.”

Stylistically, Dear Science, really does play like Prince conducting Radiohead. There’s some foreboding, post-punk retro-futurism, but it’s balanced out with plenty of sexiness— break beats, bouncing synths, and funk grooves that Thom Yorke couldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. Perhaps even more importantly, TVOTR aren’t afraid to pepper the supposedly impending apocalypse with a little bit of hope—case in point: the standout, horn-laden anthem, “Golden Age.”

“I guess my little synopsis of that track, which I think is shared by the others guys in the band, is that when you find yourself in this mess, whether you asked to be in or not, you’ve still got reason to live your life with optimism,” Bunton says. “None of us are ready to hunker down in the bunker quite yet. There is an alternative, and you can enjoy yourself out there. We’ve all experienced a dose of life without optimism, and it’s just not working.”

Even suicidal stock brokers would have a hard time not shaking their asses to some of the tracks on Dear Science,, and all things considered, that may be the most rebellious thing about this album. It’s party music that makes no attempt at escapism.

“You know, I’ve been watching coverage of the economic crisis, as everyone has been,” Bunton says. “And I’m not a schooled economist, but it does seem to me that it’s based on myth in a way. The problem is that the imaginary ideas that the economy was built on aren’t standing up as imaginary ideas anymore [laughs]. To me, the root of the problem is that we’ve been heading down this path of focusing on less substantial things—the consumer index; how we need to buy more nail polish and hair curlers and TVs. And it’s all bullshit. Hopefully, we can get to a point where we can focus on something a little more meaningful and fulfilling in the long term.”

Bunton says he hopes the same would apply to the world of pop music in the years ahead, but he’s not holding his breath. In the meantime, at least, he and his TVOTR cohorts are sure to stay level-headed.

“I thought it would be tougher,” Bunton says. “But I’ve worked at Starbucks, I’ve worked in construction-- every terrible job imaginable. And I’ve played in a lot of bands that got no critical love. So I guess I’m just too cognizant of what a loser I’ve been to lose perspective now [laughs]. It’s not really difficult at all.”