Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

It's alright.

Nearly! But not really.

The record is more of a vibe than a post punk record. Dark, emotional, with songs that flow into each other. This album is probably best described as ambient post punk. The frenetic version of TV on the Radio will make it’s appearance on Return to Cookie Mountain but as debut records go and being a release that distills elements of Siouxsie and The Banshees and goth with the Pixies. Tunde Adebimpe’s vocals are what holds the record together with their many layers woven through each track. I prefer tracks like the brilliant Wolf Like Me on Cookie Mountain, but this 1st offering should not be overlooked. Released in 2004, this is a record that could be released today to widespread acclaim. 4/5

These guys have a fascinating and unique sound, but they make you wait way too long to get to it. A lot of these tracks spend 3+ minutes building up to an idea that doesn't always land. You've heard of 'trust the process', well these guys only DO the process.

Standouts: Dreams • Poppy

A solid debut. Dense art rock is a mood and it took me a couple of starts to make it through.

Is it the worst of pretentious 2000s hipster indie…maybe not…but just leaves no impression what so ever- just bland goop.

I have never heard of this band before and my initial thoughts with the brass intro were that they sounded like They Might Be Giants, but the rest of the album didn’t. I liked it, it was interesting but did not sound like they were trying too hard to make something so eccentric it was unlistenable.
But because my head was full of TMBG and why they are not in the book, and because it went on less interestingly with no highs and lows, I will give three stars.

Diverse and tremendous sound, but I feel just a touch let down by their acapella efforts, not the cleanest vocally.

i adore tv on the radio

I love TV on the radio. I realized I love the NEXT album though and had to play that right after listening to this. I think there's a lot of good things happening here, but they really coalesced in the next album. Good nor great

On first listen I was absolutely floored by this album. It was a great, experimental, rock, gospel type of crossover. On subsequent listens I realized that the second half of the album (Poppy onward) is really just OK. Came out on top though. 3.8/5 - 4/5

This one snuck up on me. I really wasn’t feeling the first few songs.”King Eternal” was different enough to bring my attention back and from that point on I got sucked in. Wear You Out is a good tune. Overall not bad, they do have their own vibe.

I was expecting Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes to be good but I'm still impressed. I've never heard of this album or this band prior to doing this project but i was still expecting it to be indie rock by going off this band's name. And my observation was pretty dead on. This really gives me vibes of David Bowie's Low with it's weirdness but still has a twinge of indie rock. And i love it for that, The music is wonderfully weird yet can still be beautiful and relaxing and i also really like the songs that had acapella in them. I also think that the vocals work well here even if they wouldn't work well every where. I can't think of a single complaint here, this album gets full marks.
Best Song: Ambulance
Worst Song: Don't Love You

Messy, disjointed, bold, visionary, all the sides of the same coin. It's a unique blend of post-punk and soulful electronica, a raw and worthwhile listen.

The two best were 'Ambulance' and 'Poppy' and everything else is mediocre but certainly not bad and it does have its own weird charm

Intriguing, multi-layered experimental rock that is at times scary, joyful, weird, and cerebral. I remember seeing this band on The Colbert Report around the time this came out and was blown away, as there wasn't much interesting alternative rock coming out at the time - mostly pop masquerading as rock, mostly British. Very cool, needs multiple listens.

2.22

Complex vocal arrangements. Low key shoegaze type musical arrangements.

Another album where I love the sum of parts more than the whole...maybe I'm just bad at math?

Very, very cool.