TV On The Radio, Koko, London <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->
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Your support makes all the difference.TV on the Radio began as electronic noise-makers, training their sights on turbulent horizons of fire and collapse in post-September 11 New York. Founded by vocalist and lyricist Tunde Adebimpe, they hail from Brooklyn, originally a trio of painters, film-makers, animators and loft-dwellers, sticking together four-track edits of aural home-brew.
Augmented by multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek and guitarist Kyp Malone, Adebimpe's soaring, malleable vocals draw on Eno-esque soundscapes as much as American indie rock, with dashes of Fifties street-corner doo-wop thrown in.
Their debut album, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, was lo-fi and pretty hardcore, but soon attracted them big-name fans. David Bowie declared TV on the Radio his favourite new act, and his voice is buried with honours among the backing vocals of their second album, the superb Return to Cookie Mountain.
Their gig at Koko is the last of a three-city dash through the UK before a short European tour. The original trio of Adebimpe, Sitek and Malone is augmented by bassist Jaleel Bunton and drummer Gerard Smith, and the crowd greet them like conquering heroes.
Drawing on their latest album, this is an exhilarating show of heavy rock and heavy beats, mixed with electronic feedback, choreographed into a stream of consciousness. Between Afro-haired Malone and Adebimpe, they work up some good, ragged harmony vocals, and the epic choruses struggle out of their New York street clothes on songs like "Wolf Like Me"."I Was a Lover", the album's opener, is a stand-out track live, a great combination of drones, drums and bass, with strong vocals to match. The song lyrics are vivid, visceral, and weird in an out-of-joint way.
Towards the end, the band are joined by a rag-tag of guests banging on hand percussion, while Tunde experiments with the public-address tones of a load-hailer. The sound of sirens soon follows, vocals veering between hip-hop rhythms and grungy howls, while abstract guitar pulses with the electronic backdrop of drones and alarms. It could easily be a case of too much going on in one place at once, but it works.
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