Wednesday 26/05/04 TV on the Radio, Atlantic Dash @ Night & Day, Manchester

Despite being under the cosh from a local yuppie whose noise complaints to the council have pushed the venue to the forefront of the council's clampdown of Mancunian bohemian culture, the Night & Day is still putting on bands every night and on some nights they keep it pretty damn cutting edge.

Atlantic Dash are yet another band on the industrious Fierce Panda label, the Northampton based group have a bunch of guitar driven indie anthems with big choruses that should see the band stake a claim on the indie circuit.

TV On The Radio have some pedigree, founding member David Sitek produced uber trendy new yorkees The Liars and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but this doesn't give you any clue to what the band are about.

Half expecting another bunch of post indie cool digging deep into that ever mined Velvet Underground groove, its a relief to be seduced into the band's world. For a start they are not your average white boy guitar combo - they are not white - but a crew of effortlessly cool black dudes from Brooklyn. Vocalist Tunde Adebimpe has a stunning voice, and the drummer nails down all kinds of polyrhythmic grooves. Musically they are impossible to pin down, originally released by US underground label Touch and Go they sound nothing like that label's fine post punk noise catalogue. They're now signed to 4AD after a sensational gig at music biz convention South by Southwest, but again that gives you no clues to their highly original series of loose limbed jams.

There is a sort of free jazz thing floating about, some noisy guitar shit, some intense passages, and some great grooves along with some sweet vocals. At The Drive-In were hinting at this kind of multi-rhythmic collection of styles, and whilst others have dared to skim around this noise fusion, TV On The Radio have gone in deep.

This is a band that is setting out on some kind of adventure into uncharted territory and breaking conventions all the way.

Photos by Dave Evans