New York City rock band TV on the Radio is still doing just about everything right for a band operating in its genre and circumstances. It has been two years since the acclaimed Return to Cookie Mountain, and it seems like the band has retained every bit of its edginess and experimentation, but its newest album, Dear Science, has designs for accessibility. Return to Cookie Mountain was at times difficult to listen to, dissonant and confounding listeners but rewarding those who gave it more than cursory attention. Dear Science is more of the same, but also verges into accessible, friendly and even danceable territory.

Listen:

Shout Me Out

by TV on the Radio

There are effective tracks galore. “Stork and Owl” and “Family Tree” are gorgeous ballads that include lush string sections, playful horn stabs and powerful pipes belting out depressive tracts on death and desire. The band is still overly fond of drum machines, and producer/bassist David Sitek's programmings are prominent from funky “Red Dress” to dance floor winner “Golden Age.” Jaleel Bunton's excellent percussion bits dotted Return to Cookie Mountain, but he has sadly stepped aside in deference to a computer. Many albums lose steam by the end, but Dear Science closes with a trio of stirring tracks. “Shout Me Out” and “DLZ” are both infectious and ballsy. Closer “Lover's Day” is notable for a song so explicitly sexual out of a band as concept-minded as TVOTR.

TV on the Radio continuously sets high standards for modern rock, and Dear Science is not it letting down its guard.

Scott Reid