So we are all supposed to care, right? It’s Thom Yorke, the lead singer of the ubiquitous Radiohead. Holy crap, omg, blah blah blah. Yes, he recorded a solo album. Everyone change their underwear, it’s going to be ok.
I’ve never been a huge Radiohead fan. They are talented and have a lot of great songs, it’s true. Superior songs, even. Admittedly, I own all their albums. Everything from Kid A to present has been pretty solid (although I don’t understand what was so damn revolutionary about Kid A. Someone explain? Brian Eno was doing those sorts of things in the 70’s). So I was definitely interested in this solo venture of Thom’s, but in a mild, detached sort of way. Any excuse to ogle that weird eye of his, anyway.
It’s always kind of a tense moment when someone from a respected band breaks off from the group and makes a solo album. What if it’s lame and ruins the band? What if it’s really good and ruins the band? Radiohead hasn’t broken up or quit; Thom just felt like he had some solo material and wanted to record it. Well, fair enough, Thommy boy. Let’s hear it.
My thought on the first listen was, “Wow, this sounds like awkward Radiohead.” It’s quite difficult to separate Yorke’s vocals from Radiohead - he’s been screeching in our ears for 15 years or so at this point, and Yorke-as-Radiohead is sort of ingrained on the collective unconscious of the world. So initially, the album is just a crappy Radiohead record, sorely lacking Jonny Greenwood’s presence.
Sure, Morrissey did just fine without Johnny Marr, but he never paralleled the greatness of the Smiths on his own. Likewise, Yorke is competent without Greenwood, once one gets over the feeling that the solo album is just a slightly-retarded Radiohead record, but it simply just isn’t as good.
The record has some great moments, but just as many - if not more - earth-shakingly dull ones. In it’s entirety, it’s best described as static - from start to finish there is not a lot of variation, just your run-of-the-mill digital bleeps, whirrs, steel footsteps, paranoid metallic sounds, and dreamy ambient laptop weirdness set to Yorke’s all too familiar whine. Tracks one through five fell deadly flat on my ears. Track one, “The Eraser”, was enough to vaguely pique my interest, but I quickly grew bored. Then, upon hearing track five, ”Skip Divided”, my boredom, which sucks but is generally managable and something I’m accustomed to, turned to horror, which I dislike managing and try to avoid. Truly the most awful song on the album, it comes complete with faux heart monitor sounds (think: emergency room atari), deep, tuneless vocals and lyrics like “I’m a dog, I’m a dog, I’m a lapdog, I’m your lapdog, yeah” (is the ”yeah” really necessary?) left me feeling nauseous and sort of pissed off, simply because it existed and I made the mistake of hearing it. Only starting with track six, “Atoms for Peace”, do things start to get interesting, but even then, it’s a momentary flash of hope, and then the end of the record comes all too quickly. It’s like mediocre sex - it’s not bad, really, and you’d probably do it again if you had some free time or were seriously intoxicated, but it’s nothing to put any effort into or tell your friends about.
Release date: July 11, 2006
Label: XL
Rating: 5/10
6 Comments »
Emergency Room Atari is about to be our band, sam. it’s going to be electro-country-shoegazer-metal-goth. get ready.
Any band, electro-country-shoegazer-metal-goth or not, that I got to play in with you would be freaking awesome. And I say that without any knowledge of whether or not you, you know, actually play anything.
I also like the fact that Emergency Room Atari abbreviates to E.R.A. This is our ERA, baby! Our time is now! Woo-hoo!
It’s so sad that when I read “ERA” I think “earned run average” before I think “Equal Rights Amendment.” Oh wait, you meant “era.” haha.
If it makes you feel any better, when it’s used as an abbreviation, I think Earned Run Average too. Then I think of that real estate company second, probably because I’m hoping to be moving soon…
i totally think that if this had been a first album by a new artist, everyone would be talking about how incredibly brilliant it is. you\’re right though - it just kinda sounds like radiohead on an off day. if they have those, that is.
it\’s cute how you always manage to link to brian eno no matter who you are covering. 
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Comment by Sam E. — November 22, 2006 @ 4:34 pm
Why is Emergency Room Atari not a band? They could open when The Ataris and Atari Teenage Riot go on tour?
And Kid A is actually where I lost interest in Radiohead. So thanks for warning me off this one.