[Artwork by STACEYANN]
What can you say about Radiohead that hasn’t already been said? One of the worlds biggest rock bands, and they don’t even play rock music. Anymore, at least. Radiohead’s last album, 2007’s In Rainbows, saw the band create one of their most stunningly melodic and haunting works to date, and all with plenty of healthy-sounding guitars. Just last week they announced that their new album The King of Limbs would be on it’s way shortly. Fingernails whitened with anticipation around the world. PLEAASE GOD LET IT BE GOOOOD went the prayer on everyone’s lips. And then it came. And it had eight songs on it, but no Johnny Greenwood, the bands forgotten genius, blotted out to the larger world by Thom’s falsetto’s radiance. The man without whom Just would not be Just, and the world would not be the beautiful shining place it is now, where everybody’s happy and free. In fact, if there had been more Johnny on this album, Mubarak would have left within a day, and Qaddafi would probably have just given up after realizing that no matter how many people you forcefully autocrat on any given day, it is not as cool as playing the ondes martenot. Anyway, I 
should probably start talking about the album. But I’m stalling for time, you see, because the album is a sort of enigma to me. I’ve loved and cherished everything that band has done after The Bends, and one thing I’ve found is that a lot of their songs take a while to sort out or, more accurately, unfold. It always takes more than a few listens before you begin to understand. But with King Of Limbs I feel a strange urge to heap loathing upon it. It’s like listening to a Thom Yorke solo album, only less good than The Eraser. It’s a series of loops Thom could have made in a hotel room on his iPad, Gorillaz stylo. Its definitely “avant garde” which to a normal human sounds about as attractive as listening to someone piss in a stuffed beaver. If you want an album to play in the background of a low-key psychedelics fest, then maybe this would be useful, but I mean, why would you not just go for Pink Floyd? I really really want to like this album and cherish it and hold it in my heart with all of their others (‘sides Pablo Honey) but like I said, Pink Floyd already exists, so why does this? Although I do really enjoy the wordless track “Feral,” which is absolutely the sound of psychosis with a kickin’ bassline. This album does have some spectacular basslines. So yes, let us hope the rumors of a part 2 are true. Until then, please excuse me while I go back to mourning the death of The White Stripes, a band that was never afraid of using the distortion pedal. — JAME DAVIS