TV On The Radio released the 20th Anniversary Edition of their debut album, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, via the original label, Touch and Go Records. The anniversary edition of the project features five bonus tracks, including the unreleased track “Dry Drunk Emperor” (2005 Recording), originally released as a free MP3 on the Touch and Go Records website. The original LP includes singles “Staring at the Sun” plus a wealth of other memorable tracks, including “Dreams” and “Poppy.”

TV On The Radio (Tunde Adebimpe, Kyp Malone and Jaleel Bunton) will end a five-year break from performing with a string of sold-out dates this fall at New York’s Webster Hall, Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre and London’s Islington Assembly Hall. Visit tvontheradio.com for more information. The band has also announced as part of the bill for both Primavera Sound in Barcelona and Primavera Porto next June, and will be opening for Khruangbin at London’s Gunnersbury Park in August. Founding member Dave Sitek is unable to join the live shows.

Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, is an album full of rich, bruising ideas about life, love and loss. Lyrically but especially sonically, Desperate Youth, captured the dystopian hum of post-9/11 America (a war in Iraq, a proto-right-wing political regime, a surveillance state threatening personal agency at home), putting a voice to the general unease young people felt at the time. Kyp shared vocal duties with Tunde, creating a unique vocal fingerprint that further distinguished them from their peers. Desperate Youth captured the attention of critics around the world, and won the prestigious (and now defunct) Shortlist Music Prize that year.

Looking back at the band’s career, it is significant to note that TV on the Radio willfully pushed against stereotypes – musically and otherwise – simply by existing. The notion of a mostly Black indie rock band was, at first, a novelty for critics. But their identity and how it translated to lived experience is exactly what drives them to make the music they do; and over time, what has become more clear, is how they have carried forward the legacy of influential groups like Bad Brains, Death and Funkadelic before them.

TV On The Radio
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes 20th Anniversary Edition
track list
Touch and Go

1. The Wrong Way
2. Dreams
3. King Eternal
4. Ambulance
5. Poppy
6. Don’t Love You
7. Bomb Yourself
8. Wear You Out
9. Staring At The Sun
10. You Could Be Love
11. Staring At The Sun (Demo)*
12. New Health Rock (single)*
13. Modern Romance (from the “New Health Rock” single)*
14. Final Fantasy (2004 recording)*
15. Dry Drunk Emperor (2005 recording)*

*bonus tracks

TV On The Radio 2024-2025 tour dates:

November 25 – New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall

November 26 – New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall

November 29 – New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall

November 30 – New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall

December 4 – Los Angeles @ El Rey Theatre

December 5 – Los Angeles @ El Rey Theatre

December 7 – Los Angeles @ El Rey Theatre

December 10 – London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall

December 11 – London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall

December 12 – London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall

June 6 – Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound

June 12-15 – Porto, Portugal @ Primavera Porto

August 15 – London, United Kingdom @ Gunnersbury Park

order Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes 20th Anniversary Edition HERE