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The Bends
04/04/1995 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen
If the
Smiths, the most important British band of the '80s, and
Nirvana, America's prize from the '90s, had a mutant offspring, it would be Oxford, England's
Radiohead. While the band isn't as significant as either the Smiths or Nirvana, to paraphrase their own 1993 alterna-hit "Creep," they're still pretty, er, special.
With "Creep," Radiohead delivered one of the best odes to self-loathing since the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?" and Nirvana's "Negative Creep" (a mere coincidence?). And the band's debut album
Pablo Honey, which took its name from an obscure
Jerky Boys bit, proved that the quintet was more than a one-hit wonder.
While there isn't anything quite as memorable as "Creep" on The Bends, there's plenty here to warrant tuning in. On several of the slower tunes, such as "High And Dry," singer/guitarist Thom E. Yorke seems out to prove that he can not only be as sensitive as the beloved/loathsome (choose one)
Morrissey, he can sing as high as him, too. But Radiohead is no mere Smiths knockoff; sonically, they pack more punch than that band ever had. Then again, when Radiohead's three-guitar attack is running at full volume, it may remind you of Nirvana. Try listening to "My Iron Lung" and tell me it doesn't sound like Morrissey taking on Kurt Cobain's "Heart-Shaped Box." The Bends even ends with a little ditty titled "Street Spirit," surely not a reference to the surname of Smiths' producer and Morrissey collaborator Stephen Street, or Nirvana's best-known song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
Still, none of these references, whether real or imagined, are necessarily a bad thing. With Nirvana a memory and Morrissey now a hit-but-mostly-miss proposition, Radiohead remains a promising alternative. Not quite as good as the real thing, but they'll do until the next one comes along.
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