TV On The Radio began in 2001 as a project between vocalist/programmer Tunde Adebimpe and multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek, who both lived in the same building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Upon discovering their shared love of musical experimentation they crafted an 18-song demo out of respective 4-track home recordings (artfully arranged vocal loops, synthesized glitches, and comic punchlines), silk-screening CD covers and distributing them at coffee shops and clubs around Brooklyn. That demo, OK Calculator, was a tongue-in-cheek nod to the then-recently released art-rock apotheosis that was Radiohead’s OK Computer, but it portended an energy that would years-later provoke critics to dub TVOTR, “America’s Radiohead.”

Tunde and Sitek focused on making the “project” a real band, and released the 5-song EP, Young Liars, on the revered Touch & Go label in 2003. Young Liars was an epiphany, sounding unlike anything out at the time: bleak and anxious, with Tunde’s vocals powerful and clear, but still haunting. And it ended with a doo wop, harmonized cover of the Pixies “Mr. Grieves,” further refusing to be stylistically pinned down. Even before Young Liars was released, Kyp Malone became a foundational member of the band, adding a guitar style that was both ferocious and delicate, with a voice that felt like it was from a dream. It added another dimension to a band that was quickly distinguishing itself from others coming out of New York at the time.

And what a time it was. The early-2000s was an epoch for a new wave of New York City bands, an echo of the post-punk, no-wave era that emerged a generation before. The East Village and Lower East Side were still (relatively) affordable; South Williamsburg even more so, with its abandoned industrial lofts giving young people a place – and the space – to congregate, commune, and make something. TVOTR were comrades with a scene that would give the world The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem and DFA Records, Interpol, The Walkmen, and others. In the beginning, TVOTR were not the most popular of these bands, or who sold the most records. But they were the most striking, the most meaningful, wrestling with sounds and themes and perspectives that felt heavier than their peers.

The group’s debut album, Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes, laid that truth to bare. Released in 2004, it 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. To bring the album to life, Tunde, Kyp and Sitek recruited two new members to flesh our their sound: Gerard Smith (on keys & bass) and Jaleel Bunton (on drums), both multi-instrumentalists who gigged frequently around Brooklyn. What was first seeded as an experimental enterprise had now, in just a couple of years, blossomed into something beautiful, powerful and whole.

In 2011, the band would release its fourth album, Nine Types of Light. It would make its way into the world without keyboardist and bassist Gerard Smith, who passed away from lung cancer at the age of 36 during the recording of the album. It was a profound loss for the tight-knit band, and really signaled the end of a chapter in the band’s story. While making the album, some of the members had left Brooklyn for Los Angeles. These young brothers had grown into adult men, with life partners and children, and now they were dealing with loss. That matured perspective is reflected in the music, trading in the disquiet of their early work for collected introspection – without losing any of their inventiveness. To play Nine Types of Light live, the band recruited drummer Jahphet “Roofeeo” Landis to join them (with Jaleel moving to bass & keys), and Jahphet’s charged rhythmic drumming brought renewed energy to the band’s material.

In the 10 years since Seeds, each of the members have explored other creative side projects, ranging from the studio to the screen. And now, they adapt again, ready to embark on the next phase of what has been a remarkable story. For this chapter, the band is centered around Tunde, Kyp and Jaleel, beginning with a series of live shows planned for 2024-5 in New York, Los Angeles, and London. Sitek remains a part of the legacy of the band, an ever-present piece, but is unable to participate in the live shows.

TV On The Radio
Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes 20th Anniversary Edition
track list

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 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

Order tickets for TV On The Radio HERE