RADIOHEAD Pablo Honey (EMI)

Rip It Up, Issue 190, 1 May 1993, Page 21

RADIOHEAD Pablo Honey (EMI)

The only way Radiohead will seep into your consciousness is by trusting some hack like me, getting up ridiculously early in the weekend to catch the 'Anyone Can Play Guitar' clip or harassing some student radio DJ into playing a track. All of which, by the way, are well worth the effort. This Oxford five piece have got everything. Their guitajplastered pop is the perfect remedy for anyone alienated in this dance/oldies radio climate. A lot of it comes down to Thom York, the driving voice behind it all. He's one of those compulsivefigureheads, full of eloquent inadequacy and angry dissatisfaction, armed with a cry that recalls the tortured emotion of early U2. The rest of the band can

easily be described as just the rest of the band. There's no jaw dropping pyrotechnics — just strong guitars and a rhythm section that 'comes together'. But still, there are sparks of absolute magic happening here. 'Creep' stands out as one of the best 'tear in yer beer' tracks I've heard in ages — "I wish I was special/but I'm a creep/I'm a welrdo/What the hell am I doing here..." And of course you've got to mention 'You' and 'Anyone Can Play Guitar' and, well, the rest.

Perhaps anyone can play guitar — but very few can make it all mean something. Pablo Honey, not only puts Radiohead well above the rest of England's t-shirt brigade, it puts them into that elite of bands that mean more than just a couple of hits.

JOHN TAITE