TV On The Radio is feeling a little moody. A little distraught, a little post-grunge sad. “Happy Idiot,” the rock band's first single off their new album “Seeds” is super-pop, and yet bumming out in the corner of the party.
Tunde Adebimpe sings about becoming that happy idiot in a blaze of teenaged feelings — banging his head against the wall to feel nothing at all, et cetera — as the band bounds underneath him at a health BPM. I'm particularly keen on those drums and the tamborine, and the tight adherence to the melody.
But it's simple. There's a restraint like a Nirvana verse that never quite pays off. Will the rest of “Seeds” be equally resistant to The Big Chorus?
“Seeds” is due Nov. 18 via Harvest. Fans may want to pre-order the album, giving them pre-sale access to the few fall tour dates the Brooklyn crew's announced so far. The “Happy Idiot” lyric video precedes the dates.
Here are TV On The Radio's tour dates:
Oct 17: Santa Barbara, CA @ The Santa Barbara Bowl*
Oct 18: Big Sur, CA @ The Henry Miller Library*
Oct 19: San Francisco, CA @ Treasure Island Music Festival*
Oct 22: Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
Oct 24: Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace
Oct 25: Las Vegas, NV @ Life Is Beautiful Festival*
Nov 12: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
Nov 13: Montreal, QC @ Corona
Nov 14: Boston, MA @ Paradise
Nov 16: Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
Nov 17: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Nov 18: New York, NY @ Apollo
Nov 21: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Nov 22: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* indicates no presale tickets available