Thom Yorke Doesn't Like You, Shitty Indie Band With Keyboards

In the past 10 years there has been an increase in bands coming out claiming to be "experimental", very few of which are actually original and capable of emitting some sort of response from me. More specifically, it seems that every band that came out and followed a carbon copy of an "experimental" indie band drew comparisons to Radiohead. Phrases like, "people are calling them the next Radiohead" or "similar to Radiohead," were thrown around for every two bit indie band that came along with keyboards and some sort of electronic background. Even good bands that didn't have anything to do with that sound like Broken Social Scene or Mogwai were tagged with that "Radiohead-esque" sound used by outlets like Fuse TV or MTV 2. People ate it up and listened to these bands as if they were cultured and up to date on the music scene.

For Radiohead, I'm sure they look at trends such as this one and shake their heads. Every band and their mother name them as an influence. Hell, you might as well look at Panic at the Disco and call them "Radiohead-esque". They have keyboards and electronic shit. It seems as if the music world and the public for that matter is missing the point. It is the original bands that truly make a dent in the world and those willing to be associated with a trend will do either one of two things: go along with that crappy trend until it fades out (Nu-Metal, Garage Rock, etc) or do things on their own terms. The latter group of bands tends to find themselves with great success, personal satisfaction and an overall catalog of great music.

When Radiohead first debuted in America with their album, "Pablo Honey" they were associated with the trend at the time. That trend was that bastard of a term called, "grunge". Radiohead became a huge entity over night on the heels of their breakthrough hit "Creep", a song that Johnny Greenwood actually admits he tried to sabotage through the crunching of those rough guitar chords before the chorus (which ironically made the song a hit).

After that album Radiohead went off in a completely different direction. The full transition wasn't evident yet but "The Bends" showed that they were moving some where else with their sound. Grunge had died and while the new sound upset many stupid fans, it garnered respect from true music lovers. "OK Computer" was the Gold Standard and by the time "Kid A" Radiohead was fully dedicated to their music on their own terms. They had moved passed the media and music outlets decrying them for changing (namely brands like SPIN) and progressed into a full fledged musical force, relevant to music and the world.

This isn't about how wonderful Radiohead is though. Personally, while I enjoy many of their songs, I always felt they were a smidge overrated. That doesn't take away from the fact that they MAKE good music. However, I am a noise artist and I can safely say that I am a terrible musician that doesn't know the first thing about how to play any instrument besides drums. At least Radiohead took the time out to master their instruments. After the success of Radiohead, there was a huge influx in the number of bands trying to carry that same flag and forge their own niche, oddly enough with a sound that had been used before. Bands like Orbital, Coldplay, The Music (all of which suck major donkey balls), went for that same formula and while it worked for Coldplay, the only reason why was because they wrote better POP songs and their lead singer was cute and married Gwenyth Paltrow. If they never met, we wouldn't be talking about Coldplay anymore. It's just like if Pam hadn't married Kid Rock, we wouldn't be talking about him because he's a redneck has-been.

So many bands have piggy-backed onto Coldplay's success that it gets pretty fucking ridiculous as to who claim to listen to Radiohead for influence in sound. Bands like Panic at the Disco or even Angels and Airwaves, bands that fucking suck so much ass, are both listening to Radiohead and trying to duplicate their way of thinking. "Dude that guitar part is so spacey, like Radiohead". In Panic at the Disco's case, they simply threw keyboards onto their already shitty sound and without even playing a show, got signed to a label based on the fact that people thought they were Fallout Boy and Radiohead offspring. That is a direct insult. The only way "Panic" (not the great hardcore band but short for the gay disco punk band) might be related to Radiohead is if Radiohead fucked a really dumb slut like a Blink-182 while they were drunk and abusive. Note: they probably hit Blink during intercourse and made them cry as they were ejaculating.

I guess the reason I have a problem with people characterizing bands as the next Radiohead has to do with the fact that every time someone says that it dismisses the idea that originality exists and the fact that there are original bands out there doing there own thing, the way they want. The only band I can think of right now that is gaining in popularity again and taking the same "course" as Radiohead is Liars. Now I am not saying that Liars sound like Radiohead or that they are the next Radiohead in any way. They are extremely different sounding in all aspects with regards to their experimentation and the direction they are taking with their music. However, what I am saying is that Liars, similar to Radiohead, were once grouped in with a passing trend in music and that they have broken off from that--just as Radiohead did--and doing their own thing.

Liars debut full length, "They Threw Us In a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top" was an album that while being embraced by the indie community, simultaneously lambasted it and the music culture for categorizing bands, sticking them into a trend, and watching as they come up in references for shows like "Gilmore Girls". That show oddly enough goes out of its way to mention every single "indie" band they can think of in a span of 20 seconds. The brilliance of Liars was that while being loved and revered as "saviors of indie and rock'n roll" they were making fun of it at the same time, as evident in the title of the album. The funny part was that it was made implicitly and none of the music jerk-offs or dumbass indie kids picked up on it. They just assumed it was the band being "artsy" when really it was the band telling the rest of the world to "fuck off".

It was right there in the title. They weren't going to take that shit from anyone. So then it should have come as no surprise to TRUE MUSIC FANS when their next album, "They Were Wrong, So We Drowned" went in a completely different direction as they hinted at it in their debut album and the e.p they released afterwards. Yet, as soon as their anticipated follow-up came out, it garnered some of the worst reviews of an album for a band, receiving the lowest possible grade from Rollingstone and SPIN. I guess Liars knew what they were doing though and knew that Rollingstone and SPIN are two of the worst music publications this side of the earth. I bet North Korea has better music publications and they only have to write about one person.

Nonetheless, Liars had succeeded in predicting their future again with their implicit statements in their album titles. The critics were in fact wrong about Liars. They weren’t a typical dance-punk, New York band that was going to continue to produce the same crap over and over again ala VHS or Beta. And so because of this, Liars drowned in a sea of bad reviews and low record sales. Yet despite this they were not phased and when any other band would have called it quits or quickly banged out an album returning to their old stuff. Instead, Liars moved to Jamaica.

The result was last year's "Drum's Not Dead" (another prophetic album title), an album that while I personally didn't agree with, put them back on the map in the eyes of many. This was an album that once again took the band in a new direction and that established them as artists. While the album to me, has its faults, you can’t deny a band when they have conviction and music to back it up. "Drum's Not Dead" holds up not for its particularly amazing musicianship or anything, but as a solid statement to the music establishment, "FUCK YOU."

But really it should come as no surprise. Liars like Radiohead, know what they are doing. They are blazing their own trail and getting out of a shadow. I realize by linking them to Radiohead that might devalue their work, but I'm not trying to draw comparisons between the bands' works. All I'm trying to say, is that this is what good bands do. They know music critics are full of shit and they make their own music wherever and whenever they damn well please. The two bands have shared similar career turns thus far, but the two sounds are distinctly their own. You know a Radiohead song when you hear it and you know a Liars song when you hear it.

So the next time Sway or Jim Shearer tells you this band has "drawn comparisons to Radiohead" I urge you to break the television or if you can't afford it, turn it off and watch some porn. It's a lot more constructive and rewarding than watching either of those two pricks. Besides if you're getting your music info from MTV2, you probably already have some issues and will watch that weird porno shit anyway. Better now than later.

- CHRISTopher.