Seeing as how TV on the Radio is notorious for their soprano meowing, it wouldn't be surprising to find a slew of alley cats loitering outside of one of their concerts.
That may sound unrealistic, but once lead man Kyp Malone steps on stage with his looming afro-mane and begins to sing like a school girl, the unexpected becomes a part of their presentation.
"Return to Cookie Mountain," released on Sept. 12, is TV on the Radio's third LP which is a touch more cryptic than their 2004 release "Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes."
They've steadily made their way out of underground to the upper echelon of indie rock, which means they're making more money without having to abandon their innovative style.
Stylistically, these boys make music like Legos. They add and subtract sound so that the shape of the song changes while maintaining uniformity throughout the album. This methodology is maintained by their loop-master, David Sitek. Yet their tactic of combining noises without discretion creates unpredictability as well.
By smoothing together the sounds of a kettledrum, a muffled circular saw, and trumpets, "I Was a Lover" takes on undertones of reggae, industrial and a marching band.
The band produces a very traceable rhythm, sometimes even signaling their listeners when the song is about to peak with a stock ticker noise. Even though they're not selling records to Pavlov's dogs, it has an endearing effect on longtime listeners who may be familiar with this clicking from earlier albums.
"Let the Devil In" relies heavily on drums and abrasive shouting which resembles the unharnessed quirkiness of Animal Collective. They even sample David Bowie in "Province," which inevitably causes more magical nonsense.
Though "Return to Cookie Mountain" is more discordant, it ultimately revisits their sound from "Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes." To put it in a different light, they should have named their '04 release "Cookie Mountain."
