TV On The Radio SXSW 2015 | NPR MUSIC FRONT ROW

Some concerts build gradually, tentatively, until they reach an encore full of rousing classics. Others open at full blast and somehow find ways to open the throttle from there. As TV On The Radio began closing out NPR Music’s SXSW showcase, held at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, it was clear that no time would be wasted on slow-footing or throat-clearing. From the opening song — “Young Liars,“ a 2003 favorite that’s aged wonderfully — the band unleashed a storm that barely let up in helps that, five terrific albums into a long and fruitful career, TVOTR has only further sharpened a soulful, genre-smashing rock sound that’s both wonderfully inventive and from-the-gut accessible. Last fall’s Seeds sanded down some of the band’s experimental edges, but its songs are wall-to-wall crowd-pleasers, made to be cranked out to the heavens above downtown Austin. But even selections from earlier in the group’s discography were dispensed with electric ferocity befitting a night