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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 30 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Touch & Go
Release Date: 09 March 2004
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
Brooklyn art-rockers TV On The Radio make their full-length debut with this release. The trio consists of vocalist/animator Tunde Adebimpe, multi-instrumentalist/producer David Andrew Sitek (who produced the Yeah Yeah Yeahs debut) and guitarist Kyp Malone.
Also By This Artist: Dear Science, Return To Cookie Mountain
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site Touch & Go
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly
It's that very rare thing: a totally fresh--and utterly engaging--sound. [Listen 2 This supplement, Mar 2004, p.12]
All Music Guide
While it's not perfect -- occasionally the album's heady, indulgent feel tends to make it drag -- Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes is still an impressive expansion of TV on the Radio's fascinating music.
Read Full Review >Urb
Majestic, glorious and not like much else you've ever heard before.... A strong contender for Album of the Year. [Mar 2004, p.107]
Drowned In Sound
TVOTR splurge slabs of strange sound into almost freeform structures that draw on jazz sensibilities, alt-rock peculiarities and the whole NYC infatuation with cool.
Read Full Review >Planet
They're five years ahead of their time. [#6, p.86]
ShakingThrough.net
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes extends and refines both the lyrical smarts and programmatically adventurous nature of Young Liars.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
Sitek manages to conjure a musical playground within which Adebimpe’s vocals can frolic.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
While Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes could have become an exercise in studio-based formalistic noodling, Adebimpe and Malone’s vocals and lyrics give the songs structure and direction.
Read Full Review >Mojo
A Martian mix of space-age sax, sky-high doo wop, seance-strange electronics and the rich, soulful vocals of [Adebimpe]. [Jun 2004, p.116]
Neumu.net
While Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes is far from a perfect offering, this album provides a plethora of outstanding moments reminiscent of the musical exploration the band's heroes The Pixies exhibited on their debut longplayer, Surfer Rosa.
Read Full Review >Blender
[Adebimpe's] singing is consistently riveting, and the oddball mix gives it room to flourish. [Apr 2004, p.138]
Uncut
What's most frightening is that, mighty as Desperate Youth... is, their real stone killer is probably yet to come. [Jul 2004, p.100]
New Musical Express
It's this eclectic intensity which makes TV On The Radio such a vital prospect. [5 Jun 2004, p.55]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
TV On The Radio's ace is Adebimpe, whose urgent vocal performance sounds slyly bluesy and in sync with his and Sitek's dense urban soundscapes.
Read Full Review >The Wire
An exciting record crawling with new ideas. [#243, p.74]
Tiny Mix Tapes
For anyone who found themselves begging for more than five songs, you will be happy with this new album; the distance traveled from Young Liars is not so drastic as to alienate anyone.
Read Full Review >Splendid
To their considerable credit, TVoTR don't run out of innovation before they run out of songs, so even "Wear You Out"'s final minutes, during which a flute, a sax and various oscillating tones bang away at each other, are inventive and enticing.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
The Young Liars EP was as fully realized as all the critics suggested, yet now, TV on the Radio sound like a work in progress. Still, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes shows more strengths than mistakes.
Read Full Review >Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
All told, pretty dull--unless you're so desperate that you'll sing hosanna for every piece of intelligent-honest-original that comes down the circuit.
Read Full Review >Junkmedia
TV on the Radio relies more on the influence of eighties prog-pop than the typical Brooklyn grit, which is definitely refreshing.
Read Full Review >Almost Cool
There are some amazing songs on Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, but overall it still feels like a transition[al] release of a group really trying to nail things.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
Their initial EP documented a band that sounded ready to take on the world – but the follow up just shows that the journey may take longer than expected.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
It all hangs together, somehow, swaying unerringly from one idea to the next.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
Much more realized than last year's Young Liars EP, it's also a bit more conventional.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Like David Bowie’s Station to Station or Peter Gabriel’s So, TV on the Radio make music that demands to be listened to actively, as for the listener to absorb the lethal amounts of heartbreak, dignity, and mystery in the human voice.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
It's Prince, it's Eno, it's PiL, it's The Coasters and all at once. At times, that jars. At others... it's as exhilarating as a kiss. [Jul 2004, p.124]
Trouser Press
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes is diverting, short (47 minutes), atmospheric and contains exactly one truly memorable song.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Despite the album's general inertia, it contains some impressive individual songs.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
Unfortunately, many of the tunes wear out their welcome, overextending a single inspired idea. [Apr 2004, p.88]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
fake name gave it a3:
I have a name for this: Critic Rock. Sketchy, unapproachable singing that that removes any hope of tunefuleness layered over aimless noodling and very little rhythmic interest. Less interesting than another insufferable crit-rock band: Yo La Tengo. This is an exemplar of Metacritic's one weakness: crit-rock will always score well.
Jyotirmaya D gave it a9:
I like what I hear ~ I'm not sure half the time what i'm hearing, but hey, that keeps it interesting as well.
Martha S gave it a9:
sweet
Hank W gave it a10:
Incredible
Jon D gave it a10:
Emotional, unique, catchy. What else do you want?
Pat M gave it a9:
Beautiful textures and progressing songs. Hard to classify, harder to forget.
Mike P gave it a9:
Fresh sound that can be more fully apreciated through repeated listenings
