Track of the Day – “Wolf Like Me” by TV on the Radio

“Wolf Like Me” is perhaps the most apt representation of Halloween in the past five years.

The song is essentially about sex, but through the lens of a man turning into a werewolf. In the movies, this process often looks painful, but TV on the Radio, the Brooklyn-based art-rock group, seems to revel in its wicked kinetic energy.

The band barrels through the song with enough forward momentum to rival a pack of wild dogs. Singer Tunde Adebimpe half-chants his lycanthrope-themed come-ons: “When the moon is round and full/Gonna teach you tricks that will blow your mongrel mind.”

The song also features one of the great rock formulas of slowing the tempo down for the bridge, as though it was the eye of a hurricane. When it comes back to full speed in the final verse, it’s exhilarating.

This song’s real strength lies in its boundless energy. It evokes the sugar-high adrenaline rush of young trick-or-treaters as well as older, costumed partiers.

Though it only came out last year, it has the potential to become a track on your costume party’s mixed CD for years to come.

“Wolf Like Me” can be found on TV on the Radio’s 2006 album, “Return to Cookie Mountain,” out now on Interscope Records.