from the demo OK Calculator, self-released, 2002This track is surefire proof that the Brooklyn crew of art freaks known as TV on the Radio are, indeed, not hipster trash with their heads stuck up their own asses (as some retarded critics have accused them of being); frankly, there are plenty of annoying little things about this group’s music, so if all you can come up with is the fact that their tunes are challenging and trendy people like them, and this becomes your rationale for declaring them (not just their fans) vacuous scenesters, you suck at your job as a music critic and are, most likely, a douchebag. That being said, these cats are also not defining a new zeitgeist or re-shaping modern rock music the way that some ass-kissers would like us all to believe. This demo is what got them signed, and as a whole it almost comes off like an ever-so slightly smarter & more electronic version of early Ween recordings, all over the map stylistically and sarcastic to a fault. The first time I heard this song I laughed so hard that I spit my drink out, “…I could not help but noticing, all these robots fucking in the middle of the mini-mall…robots fucking in the car wash…robots fucking in the middle of the Jay-Z video…pictures of Oprah Winfrey fucking robots for sale, on ebay...sold, to the highest quitter…” Just because an artist is intelligent doesn’t make them condescending, and TV on the Radio’s wry brand of postmodern deconstruction is just fine with me!
