Look, we love the revelations and nice tries in TV on the Radio‘s puzzling back catalog–as ‘music critics,’ we’re practically required to–but what the hell was up with their atonal appearances on Saturday Night Live over the weekend? While the band’s wiry renditions of “Dancing Choose” and “Golden Age” weren’t as godawful as some s/t associates claimed before our own Audio Perv-assisted viewing, both songs came off poorly-mixed, rushed and, well, irritating.
Maybe Dave and Tunde should have revisited their sample-happy suitcase roots for this one and left the horn section at home, eh? Either that, or the band should have dug a little deeper into Dear Science and highlighted one of the most chilling songs in the entire TVOTR canon: the death-defying “DLZ.”
Anyway, judge for yourself after the jump. We’ve also included TVOTR’s Letterman performance from a few years back to show you how striking they can be in an idiot box context sometimes …
“Golden Age”
“Dancing Choose”
“Wolf Like Me”
FURTHER READING: What TV on the Radio’s Learned After 7 Years, 4 Albums, and a Couple Lineup Changes