Supergroups eh? Bowie’s Tin Machine is considered one of his worst moves and I would be amazed if anyone can listen to the whole album Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart’s Superheavy made.
When I heard Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood had joined forces with Tom Skinner of Sons of Kemet as The Smile my hopes were not great. I was wrong again.
They arrived earlier this year with You Will Never Work in Television Again with an opening lyric of “Fear not my love he’s a fat fucking mess.” That’s good enough for me but the fact it is set over a fantastic indie guitar riff makes it the single of the year, so far.
Is the album as good? Yes, I love Radiohead but sometimes Yorke’s voice is hard to decipher, he is on top form here, as musicians get older their voice goes, he is 53, it’s as good as ever.
Thin Thing has Greenwood at his best a beautifully layered guitar and Open the Floodgates does not even have Skinner on it, maybe Thom and Jonny are readying us for their duet album.
I am sure I am not the first to say it but if this were under the Radiohead name it would have debuted at number one and would be a fine addition to their discography.
8/10
GIVE IT A STREAM: You Will Never Work In Television Again