Hot damn! Someone did it! Someone finally made a record that sounds unlike anything you've ever heard. Someone finally eschewed all of the overused indie rock clichés (i.e. lo-fi production, out of tune guitars) and came out of the studio with a fresh set of norm-defying experimental pop music that is strangely accessible.

Those someones are TV on the Radio. These Brooklynites (Tunde Adebimpe and David Sitek, to be exact) are making music that no other indie artists are making, without going so far as to venture into Himalayan throat singing or polka. Every song on their debut EP, Young Liars contains elements of certain genres — shoegazer, trip-hop, doo-wop — without ever falling completely into any of those categories. It might even be appropriate to call TV on the Radio's music a hybrid, but that would be too pedestrian a description for music this forward-thinking.

The EP begins with "Satellite," a mix of fuzzed-out bass, marching drumbeats and near-barbershop harmonies. At first listen it bears a faint resemblance to Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio," though never veers into novelty and is, without a doubt, a much better song. Adebimpe sings, "I'm waitin' for a signal or a sound/where can you be found now/where can you be found now, my love" in a swelling chorus that's as catchy as it is mesmerizing.

"Staring at the Sun" would be the obvious choice for a single, opening with some simple vocal harmonies before that fuzzy bass creeps back in to the mix. A simple disco beat is the foundation for the tune, while Sitek adds some angular guitar riffs. When all elements are combined, the end result is a hearty stew of sound, worthy of repeated plays on a Technics 1200 and your home stereo alike.

A true testament to TV on the Radio's innovation is the closing "hidden" track — an a capella cover of The Pixies' "Mr. Grieves." It shouldn't work, and in the hands of any other artist, it wouldn't, but somehow Adebimpe creates a stunningly beautiful voice composition out of Black Francis' fractured fairy tale. It's about twice as long as the original, and twice as eerie. Adebimpe's multi-tracked voice fades in, like the ghost of a barbershop quartet coming to haunt the hipsters. It's a work of pure genius, even if it is a cover.

Young Liars is everything you'd want in a debut, save for its brevity. Five songs just aren't enough to satisfy the bored music listener's jones, but it's a Hell of a teaser until the full-length comes out.

Similar Albums:
The Blood Group - Volunteers
Suicide - Suicide
Peter Gabriel - Security

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Jeff Terich
03.16.2004