TV On The Radio: “Wolf Like Me”
3 August 2006 |
Though nearly any song off of TV On The Radio’s remarkable sophomore album, Return To Cookie Mountain, would have worked fine as the group’s debut major-label single, “Wolf Like Me” gets the nod and rightfully so, as it’s the album’s most instantly awe-inspiring track and quite possibly the best song TV On The Radio has ever written. Beginning innocently enough, the brief, steadily-chugging intro gives way to an urgent drumbeat, before a metric ton of industrial-strength synth lines and a near-lethal barrage of noise descends from above to crush down on the listener and kick the song into overdrive, thus initiating the sonic assault that will leave one breathless and gasping for air in four and a half minutes’ time. Tunde Adebimpe’s lyrics employ a werewolf metaphor to take you into the mind of a character caught in the throes of an insatiable sex addiction, as the protagonist describes “the curse [they] cannot lift” that “shines when the sunset shifts”. Acting almost as an endurance test of sorts and sounding like Outkast hopped up on PCP, the driving rhythm drags you along at 100 miles an hour until you’re granted a brief reprieve at the two-minute mark as the protagonist howls out into the ether for a “play mate”, a “completer” to share in his sin. Without warning, the drums and synths roar back into the frame and carry the song to its conclusion as the permanency of the addiction is realized in the “howling forever” refrain that fades out with the track’s instrumentation. In both lyrical depth and sheer force of instrumentation, “Wolf Like Me” proves to be one of the elite indie rock songs in recent memory.
The sublime genius of “Wolf Like Me” aside, the b-sides included on the single are “Things You Can Do” and “Snakes + Martyrs”, the latter of which figures to be a last minute cut from the album as it was originally included on the album in the unmastered leak that surfaced earlier this year. “Snakes + Martyrs” shows why it was cut from the album with its plodding verses and the fact that it never really goes anywhere, while “Things You Can Do” is a bit better, but both definitely earn their b-side status.
MP3: “Wolf Like Me” - TV On The Radio ((highly highly recommended))
[Click here to purchase from Rough Trade]
Explosions In The Sky are a chill-out favorite over here at the Good Weather For Airstrikes camp; Everett lives and dies by EITS when it comes to essay-writing music, and I live by the band when it comes to getting-high-and-walking-around music. Regardless of who you are though, chances are you’re gonna get the shit soothed out of you if you listen to any of the group’s releases. While Explosions’ two major releases, 2001’s The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place and 2003’s Those Who Tell The Truth, were on the receiving end of fairly unanimous critical acclaim, the group also has two lesser-known releases under their belt; their 2000 debut album, How Strange, Innocence, which saw a re-release last October, and The Rescue EP, which saw a subscription-only release on the band’s Temporary Residence Ltd. label last year. Fortunately for those of us non-subscribers (i.e. pretty much everyone), Explosions have chosen to make The Rescue available for download online in its entirety completely free, so scroll down and get your download on below.
