By Robbie Mackey

Radio 4 is a post-punk revivalist group from Brooklyn that sound like Gang of Four, their name referencing John Lydon’s Public Image Limited. It all makes for a total package that seems a bit too perfect, a bit too posed. Since releasing their moderately political debut, A New Song and Dance, in 2000, the band has been criticized by the earbudded hipster set for toeing the line between homage and blatant rip. And when mini-major Astralwerks Records swooped in after the success of their sophomore album, Gotham!, the indie purists backlash went mega-scale.

So it’s no surprise Radio 4’s Anthony Roman isn’t fond of Pitchforkmedia.com.

In June, the smarty-pants music site panned the band’s latest record, Enemies Like This, but the critical response came as no surprise. After former Pitchforkster Nick Sylvester kicked 2004’s Stealing of a Nation in the ass with a waifish 2.1, the new record’s mid-3 probably felt like a gift to the band. Still, Roman can’t help but harbor a bit of resentment. But when discussion shifts to Sylvester’s dismissal from the Fork (for falsifying information in a story for the Village Voice), the bassist sounds almost gratified.

“It’s really amazing to me that he claimed to be such an authority on what was real music,” says Roman. “He was convinced we weren’t the real deal. And now he’s been exposed as the biggest fraud going.  He fancies himself some kind of Lester Bangs, but he actually ended up more like that guy who wrote A Million Little Pieces. I was happy to see him be exposed as a complete and utter fraud.”

“If you don’t like our music, that’s fine,” adds Roman. “But I don’t see how we’re the enemy. If you just dwell on Pitchfork, it would negate all of the positive reviews, and the good things that have been said.”  

Enemies, derivative or not, is the best thing this band has done since Gotham!, which may not sound like much after the disappointment of 2004’s Stealing of a Nation—a sloppy, hurried album that even Roman admits was a miscarry. But the latest record is brilliant.

Neither lyrically nor musically exceptional, the songs on Enemies are solid constructions. Call it Clash-ripping, call it P.i.L. worship, but it’s sonically succinct—an important quality for homage. Where Radio 4 hurried through the process with Nation, they took their time this go round.

“We made sure with this record, no matter what was happening, no matter what was offered, we were going to stop at a certain point and just write and record every day.  We turned down an offer to go to Brazil, somewhere we really wanted to go.  We had to turn it down to work on this.”

And Roman is pleased with the result, especially with the writing. 

“Nothing sounds incomplete to me,” he explains. “I never hear anything and think, ‘Oh, that’s an incomplete idea.’”

One of Enemies’ most complete thoughts is the reggae-freak of “Ascension Street,” a
song about the gentrification of Roman’s beloved Brooklyn.

“The Williamsburg/Greenpoint crew is getting pushed to Bushwick and Bedstuy,” he says. “And the Park Slope/south Brooklyn people are getting pushed to Red Hook.  Eventually we’re just gonna end up in the water.”

But luckily for Roman, Radio 4 keeps him in Park Slope, safe from landing in the river. He just might have to deal with a couple nasty jabs from the folks at the Fork, and a bit of a backlash, to keep that luxury.

July 6. Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. (betw. Bowery & Chrystie Sts.), 212-533-2111; 8, $15.