It’s been one of the great pleasures of 2008 to see TV On The Radio enjoy the breakthrough they so richly deserve. Their latest album, Dear Science, has enjoyed rave critical reviews across the board, and for good measure, even crash-landed at number 12 on the US album charts. Much was expected from this eagerly anticipated, sold-out Dublin gig, and the group don’t disappoint.
The five-piece unit do a superb job of translating their complex, layered records to a live-setting, creating a powerful wall-of-sound that alternates between roaring intensity and quiet beauty. Frontman Tunde Adebimpe is a compelling presence out front, energetically throwing shapes and singing the band’s impressionistic, fractured lyrics with verve and emotion.
The eclectic nature of TVOTR’s music is perfectly illustrated in the mid-set triptych that commences with the electro-funk workout of ‘Golden Age’, continues with the ferocious guitar-driven assault of ‘Wolf Like Me’ and concludes with an achingly gorgeous ‘Dirtywhirl’. As you might expect, the band largely concentrate on material from Dear Science, with further highlights including electrifying takes on some of the album’s finest tracks, including ‘DLZ’ and ‘Dancing Choose’.
In their mix of art-rock austerity and naked emotion (not to mention the essentially urban nature of their sound), the groups TV On The Radio most recall are Interpol and Radiohead. Indeed, there are established links with those bands, given that Paul Banks is a confirmed TV On The Radio fan, and that TVOTR actually named their first release OK Calculator in tribute to OK Computer. But as with Interpol and Radiohead, Dave Sitek and co. have managed the tricky feat of infusing their cerebral compositions with remarkable soulfulness.
Nowhere is this more apparent than when, after Adebimpe thanks the crowd for their ultra-warm welcome, TVOTR perform a stunning, percussion-heavy ‘A Method’ (which sees the singer tapping away at a cymbal throughout). To close, the band follow it up with an impassioned version of ‘Staring At The Sun’.
It was the ideal way to conclude a superb gig by one of the bands of the year.