Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (LP)

Dave Sitek and Tunde Adepimbe push their abilities as sculptors of sounds and words to new limits. Adepimbe in particular continues to prove himself as a distinctive and captivating voice, both musically and lyrically. Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes' opening track, "The Wrong Way," is one of the best reflections of his strengths as a singer and writer, and of TV on the Radio's overall growth.

Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes is a political album on other levels, from the psychedelic soul-tinged antiwar meditation "Bomb Yourself" to the more subtle politics of relationships that many of the other songs cover. This also makes sense, considering that TV on the Radio formed partially in response to the apocalyptic feeling in New York after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This brooding vibe, which also informed Young Liars, comes to the forefront on songs like "Don't Love You," "King Eternal," and the beautifully bleak "Dreams," which makes the end of a relationship sound like urban blight. But Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes also leaves room for hope, and finds it in connections with other people. "Ambulance" is a creative look at love that sets lyrics like "I will be your screech and crash if you will be my crutch and cast" to doo wop in a way that not only invokes nostalgia, but transcends it to sound utterly fresh. "Poppy" might be the only love song that rhymes "individuated" with "congratulations," but the track's ecstatic guitars do most of the talking; "Wear You Out"'s erotic grind closes the album on a surprisingly sexy note. Even though Young Liars was an accomplished EP, TV on the Radio have already progressed beyond it. "Staring at the Sun," the only song included on the EP and Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, seems almost simplistic compared to the rest of the album's songs. While it's not perfect -- occasionally the album's heady, indulgent feel tends to make it drag -- Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes is still an impressive expansion of TV on the Radio's fascinating music. - AllMusic