On both sides of the Atlantic the results are encouraging — the success of bands like TV On The Radio is a living. breathing reason-to—be- cheerful about the future. Three albums in. no hits. no consciously shaped image and no sell- outs to adverts. TVOTR make uncompromising music that defies trends and is now officially. bafflingly. popular. Spin magazine in America calls them ‘rock's most visionary crew’. a bunch of revolving producer/multi-instmmentalists who don‘t pay any attention to the so-called rules of how to succeed. So how do bands like these do it. and how is the system changing?
The saviour of alternative music has been a mix of the new (the internet) and the old- fashioned (the live circuit. which is now where most bands make their money). When TV()TR played their first raucous show in Glasgow five years ago it was at Nice 'n‘ Sleazy's. The crowd came mostly via word—of-mouth recommendation. They‘d sold virtually no records but it didn’t matter. Each person who saw them told someone else. who told someone else. and the next time they came back. the venue was bigger. This month they play the ABC. and venues of similar size all over Europe and America. having done the same word-of- rnouth trick everywhere. This strategy has big
A TRULY GREAT BAND SUCCEEDING DESPITE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, NOT BECAUSE OF IT
advantages — the band has been able to hone their live show. test out material on smaller audiences. and steadily get more ambitious as they’ve gone on. and have avoided being drowned by commercial pressure. Bands who hit the jackpot on their first album (then have no idea how to follow it up) would benefit from this approach. which ultimately makes for better music. and. handily enough for managers. also better money-making. Eventually.
TVOTR‘s early experimental material was patchy. but singles like ‘Staring at the Sun' showed signs of something special. ‘I Was a Lover‘ and ‘Wolf Like Me‘ from 2006‘s Return to Cookie Mountain showed a rise in both confidence and consistency. New album Dear Science is the one they‘ve been threatening to make for five years. Tracks like ‘(iolden Age‘ and ‘Crying' mark the band‘s evolution into a falsetto-led dance outfit with funk beats. and elsewhere ‘Dancing Choose’. sees a three-piece brass section competing with swirling. escalating guitars and Tunde Adebimpe's fast-rap vocals. Later on the record the powerful ‘l)eath Professor' takes the more visceral. direct route. while ‘Family Tree‘ is the most heartfelt thing they‘ve done yet. These songs could be by four different. very good bands. The success of Dear Science. and other records like it prove that fans don‘t just want twelve almost-identical flavours on an album.
You still won‘t find a band like TV()TR in the top ten. but that‘s fine — the industry works differently now. and it‘s no longer strange to see
a band like TV()TR performing on the steps of
the fire escape of the David Letterman building. In fact. these late—night. high-ratings shows have become home turf to alternative bands such as Band of Horses. MGMT and The National. who famously played a near—perfect version of Take Empire' on Letterman — an understated. lyrically twisted song that doesn‘t have a chorus and wasn‘t even a single — that really got the band noticed through repeated YouTube viewings. liven more accessible rockers Kings of Leon needed four albums to get to number one. taking six years to become the assured. all-consuming stadium rock band of 'Sex on l5ire' and new album Only By the .\'ig/tt. All these bands are carving out a niche in a changing. fragmenting industry Pretty strong signs of life three years on from the supposed apocalypse of 2005.
And it's not just on the other side of the
Atlantic that things are changing. The case of
Elbow shows some bands are like a good wine — they need a little love. time and patience. Dropped by their first label before their debut even came otit. Elbow have always been both critical successes and commercial umlerachievers. The only band ever to have four consecutive ‘)/l() NMli albums reviews. they earned a live reputation slowly. yet after their third album. Leaders oft/1e Free World. they were dropped by V2. and recorded their Mercury l’ri/e winning album The Seldom Seen Kid without knowing whether it would be released.
This perseverance is an example of a truly great band surviving and succeeding despite the music industry. not because of it. You no longer need official support. or to pay millions for a super- producer to sprinkle magic over songs. Stuck for a deal. the band produced and mixed the album themselves and sold it to liiction Records — who must now be pleased that V2 were so impatient.
Since winning the Mercury. Elbow have released another single. “The Bones of You‘ from The Seldom Seen Kid. but didn‘t bother putting it in shops. opting for the download-only format. liven rock royalty like Radiohead. who could easily go down the traditional route. hardly bother with airplay and singles anymore. There were famously none released off their Kid A album (which went to number one worldwide anyway). and this kind of old-fashioned promotion now seems archaic to a band who released their latest album onlinc. with no advertising and an optional price.
livery case here is different. and for every heartening story there is another frustrating failure. But there’s certainly a trend. and the steady success of bands like TVOTR represents something healthy in otherwise depressing times. Don‘t let anyone tell you the bogeyrnan is coming. lies at home. happily listening to his il’od. And he's got pretty good taste.
TV on the Radio play ABC, Glasgow, Sun 16 Nov.
TV ON THE RADIO
spring 5 eternal
TIME FOR HEROES?
Mark Robertson assesses the fate of some musical slow builders and other short but sweet career trajectories
Pulp
Time to hit big: 12 years Languishing in the back streets of Sheffield and the toilet circuit for almost a decade before Britpop. multiple Mercury nominations and ‘Disco 2000'.
Bifly Clyro
Time to hit big: nine years In the time they had matured from post-grunge wannabes to strutting arena prog tarts. fellow hairy dude Dave Grohl had turned 0th to be the cool, famous one from Nirvana. Whodathunkit?
Richard Hawley
Time to hit big: seven years Disc0unting his years with indie spods The Longpigs. Hawley has quietly been carving out his niche as Sheffield's answer to Burt Bacharach for years before critical acclaim hit in 2006/7
Snow Patrol
Time to hit big: six years We saw them. a few years into their career, playing a free show in Sleazy's. Two years later they were in the top ten.
2 I. '11 O D —‘ I O 2 O I > C
The Darkness
Time in the sun: 18 months Went from being ‘A Thing Called Love‘ to ‘That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' with shocking rapidity.
Ms Dynamite
Time in the sun: 15 months The catchy first single. the Mercury Award-winning debut album. . .then the silence.
.. StOry goes she got pregnant. started a family and never quite got round to doing much with her sophomore effort.
NVd 3H1. NI HSVWJ V
Towers of London
Time in the sun: one year The TV ‘reality' series. the YouTube greatest hits. . . shame there wasn't a song or two to go with it. Back with a second album currently which will inevitably sink without a trace.
Joe Lean & the Jing Jang Jong
Time in the sun: four months A band so singularly crap. that their debut was pulled by the record company a week after it was reviewed in NME. Supposedly being released this January. Yeah. right.
H 1’." Nov 9008 THE LIST 17