Named after a
P.I.L. song,
Radio 4 revives the late-'70s/early-'80s post-punk of bands like
Gang of Four,
Mission of Burma, and
P.I.L. by matching scratchy guitar riffs with danceable grooves. The band was formed in 1999 in New York City by bassist
Anthony Roman, guitarist Tommy Williams, drummer
Greg Collins, percussionist P.J. O'Connor, and keyboardist
Gerard Garone, and quickly recorded a three-song EP for New Jersey's Gern Blandsten label.
Their 2000 debut,
The New Song and Dance, produced by
Tim O'Heir, entered
Radio 4 into the ranks of gritty, guitar-driven, N.Y.C. rock & rollers. In early 2001,
Radio 4 went back into the studio with
O'Heir to record the 12"
Dance to the Underground, which included a dance remix of the title track. The remix signaled a new direction for
Radio 4, one that would mine their funky riffs and dub-inspired bass lines to create a sound that would merge rock and dance. After cutting demos in a Brooklyn basement studio,
Radio 4 went to work on their second album,
Gotham!, with the acclaimed production duo
DFA, made up of
Tim Goldsworthy and James Murphy. The producers' experience with electronic artists such as
James Lavelle's
U.N.K.L.E. project and
David Holmes, as well as bands that mix rock and electronica like
the Rapture and
Primal Scream, was the final ingredient necessary to realize
Radio 4's genre-beating vision.
Gotham!, released on Gern Blandsten in 2002, is a brilliant mix of guitars, dub, beats, squeaks, loops, keyboards, and handclaps that evokes the best post-punk dance bands like
Gang of Four and gives it a modern boost of energy. The record garnered a great deal of positive press, exposure on MTV2, and expanded their fan base, both at home and in Europe, quite a bit. In 2003 the band landed a deal with Astralwerks and released an EP made up of a newly recorded version of "Dance to the Underground" plus a handful of remixes by acts like
Playgroup and
the Faint. The band recorded its third album, Stealing of a Nation, with producer Max Heyes in an underground studio in Brooklyn. It was released in September of 2004. ~ Charles Spano