With No Label to Speak of, Brit Band Get Back to Their Roots

Over the past 15 years, Radiohead have grown to become the biggest rock band on the planet. They put out three straight-ahead rock records in the 90s, before completely forsaking rock’n'roll to release the glitchy and ambient Kid A. They have since dropped two more records leading up to In Rainbows, each of them with varying parts early and late Radiohead intermixed. It’s somewhat pertinent to note the irony (oh how hipsters do love their irony) of the fact that the record that Radiohead created in an effort to shirk all definition of their music has come to define the band’s career so wholly and completely. Kid A is the turning point in the history of Radiohead, and with this third record since that fateful album, it seems the band may finally be ready to put all of their history completely in the past.

In Rainbows will likely be compared most often to Hail to the Thief. It definitely showcases many songs with pretty noises that would epitomize what you might call the “Radiohead Sound.” The tinny guitars, the quick staccato percussion, the layers upon layers of atmospheric soundscapes, and of course, the wailing warble of the immutable Thom Yorke. All are present, of course, as Radiohead at this point - no matter how they try to be otherwise - are slaves to the Radiohead formula. Weird lyrics + layer after layer of competing pretty noises + Thom Yorke’s amazing voice = Hipsters verbally creaming all over everyone within earshot for the next six months or more about the genius of this new record. However, while HttT was the Radiohead equivalent of a musical A-bomb, In Rainbows is more like a heat-seeking missile, taking everything that is great about the band, losing all the excessive bombast and delivering the raw beauty straight to your heart.

Radiohead’s seventh effort is by far their catchiest, most concise and focused record since OK Computer. Kid A was focused, but anything but concise. HttT was catchy and concise in parts, but it certainly meandered in others. Amnesiac is a glorified B-sides collection, and we all know it. But on In Rainbows, Radiohead manage to create complex and carefully-crafted sonic landscapes within the framework of perfectly simple and catchy pop songs that will undoubtedly rankle tons of ironic feathered mullets around the globe. This is not Hail to the Thief. It isn’t OK Computer either. It’s closest to The Bends, except the boys have learned a few new tricks.

This record showcases Radiohead’s influences in a way not heard most likely since Pablo Honey. Their main influence on the record - many people (such as myself) will be glad to note - is The Beatles, with extra sprinkles of peppy swing-style jazz throughout the record as well. Yorke crafts both McCartney and Lennon-esque tracks. The former come in the form of songs like “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” “All I Need” and “Faust Arp” and the latter appear in tracks like “House of Cards,” “Videotape” and “Nude.” The only misses are possibly the second and second-to-last tracks, “Bodysnatchers” and “Jigsaw Falling into Place,” respectively. Neither of these tracks are bad, per se, but both have the feel of being somewhat derivative of old Radiohead records, and both have the sprawling, oblique nature indicative of the songs on HttT.

Perhaps most evident here are just how much the band is stretching by pulling back. These songs are amazingly complex pop orchestrations held within the framework of what constitutes a true “pop song.” Thom Yorke uses his voice as an instrument beautifully interwoven into the tapestries of each song, much as he did on his solo record, The Eraser. Greenwood strips his guitars of many of their bombastic effects, taking a big chance by leaving his music far barer than it has ever been. But perhaps the true kudos for the record’s greatness should be directed at drummer Phil Selway. Rarely lauded as one of the premier players in the group, it is Selway’s drum work that keeps In Rainbows constantly in motion, never slowing or stalling. It is the first Radiohead record since perhaps OK Computer that can boast never having one dull moment, and that is primarily due to Selway’s inspired drumming.

This record comes in at just a tad more than 40 minutes of play time, 15 minutes less than HttT. It is soothing, accessible and melodic. It is a record full of dichotomy - an independent record released by the biggest band on the planet; an album of simple pop songs made up of complex sounds layered one on top of the other. The often beautiful and aptly-named In Rainbows sounds something like an old friend come back from years of world travel. You will certainly recognize the band on this record as Radiohead, but there will be things on the album that seem strange and new to you. Embrace the new parts, as they haven’t completely changed your favorite friend. And love all that is old and recognizable about In Rainbows, as those things were what made you fall in love with Radiohead in the first place.

Above all, be happy for the fact that Radiohead have entered a totally new phase of their career. Here’s to another 15 wonderful years.