Tynan's Anger

SONGS OF THE DECADE #40

[For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List]

TV On The Radio - Wolf Like Me (2006)



As soon as TV on The Radio established their battle plan at beginning of Return To Cookie Mountain with "I Was A Lover," it was clear that the band needed a war cry. TVOTR, smart enough to know the perils of being bold in a culture that generally discourages it, put their avalanche of sound to the background for one track and let a power ballad sneak into the forefront. Catharsis was hard to come by in music this decade. It was even harder to come by if you were both educated and street-wise enough to move beyond blissful ignorance (and this decade produced one of the most educated class of music consumers ever). Return to Cookie Mountain's most accessible song was also the one that most made you feel like TVOTR was going to walk out of the studio midway through the track. "Wolf Like Me" is one of those rare songs that knocks your socks off on first listen, and only gets better with age.

Labels: 2000s, lists, pop music, songs of the decade, tv on the radio, wolf like me

SONGS OF THE DECADE #53

[For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List]

TV On The Radio - Golden Age (2008)



Hope springs eternal in TV On the Radio's breakthrough song of the Obama year, and while I have my beefs with the band's veiled cynicism, it's nowhere to be found on this era-defining track. After the band buried the world in an unremittingly bleak sonic vision in Return to Cookie Mountain, they were smart enough to bring their audience back with the right song with the right attitude at the right time. Realizing the need for eclecticism. This self-awareness is key: it's how TV On The Radio brought hip-hop and R & B to their ingrained alternative slant while ignoring the "bipster" controversy. The Obama sympathy vote may have caused Dear Science to get a bit more hype than it deserved, but "Golden Age" is a touchstone song for a generation that overcame the Bush years (both the politician and the band).

Labels: 2000s, golden age, lists, pop music, songs of the decade, tv on the radio

So far, my vote would go to the following couplet from TV on the Radio's "Dancing Choose":

Angry young mannequin/
American, apparently

It should be obvious why I like the first lyric. Buy it's the second lyric, a a subtle jab at American Apparel, that kills me. (I sounds like sounds like Tunde Adebimpe is saying it in the song, but the official lyric is lawsuit-free).

These five words reek with so much concentrated intelligence that I may need to put it in a bottle.

Labels: american apparel, angry young man, indie rock, intelligence, tv on the radio