TVOTR is a highly original group from Brooklyn, NY characterized by vocals that range from crazily high-pitched to group chanting and a pop-based sound that’s rampantly experimental but always melodic. Unlike their school-of-’78-in-’04 peers such as the Rapture and Interpol, TVOTR’s music is as rooted in blues, free jazz and gospel as it is the post-punk canon or contemporary electronic music. This makes Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes far more interesting, naturally; the purely vocal "Ambulance" is novel and exciting as anything by Björk, Spongehead Experience or Pere Ubu. With lyrics that impressively, and un-preachingly, tackle issues of race and war, this finalist for 2004’s Shortlist Competition easily ranks among the best albums of that year. --Mike McGonigal