Johnny and Thom are back for their sophomore release with their side project that at first seemed like a one-off release. These songs were written while on tour. It opens with the title track which is a strummed guitar being buried by the ambiance and Yorke's trademark coo. What seemed to work so well on the first album is not being repeated here and instead, we are getting a glut of atmosphere that mired down many of the latter-day Radiohead songs. Things wander more in the second song. I can only think Thom York must be getting high as hell to repeatedly go to this sort of thing as his songwriting default.
They pull out of this on "Read the Room", which seems a decent compromise, as it has enough groove to stick to your ears, while a fair share of surreal trappings for it to float in on. The vocals feel more purposeful with this backbone from him to sing over. The bass line provides even more meat here. They wander into more proggy goodness with "Under Your Pillow". It does sound more like the lost Radiohead outtakes. Some of the blame here lies in Yorke's distinct voice. To his credit, it is impressive his falsetto is still this fluid. There is more struggle on this album with the song vs sound situation. They are great musicians so they can capture this sound without a great deal of studio wizardry and just jamming along with their instruments. However, this feels more like jamming than songwriting. The last two minutes of "Under Your Pillow" drowning in ambient noise.
"Friend of a Friend" adheres more closely to the conventions of songwriting, as it sounds like it could be jazz-rock from the late 70s. They reuse the use of delay on his voice which Yorke has experimented with before, as his lyrics are a stream of consciousness. "I Quit" tries to remember where it was going as it wanders through the clouds. "Bending Hectic' has more substance to it, though it is just a jammed-out version of familiar ground. The final two minutes find them actually rocking out, which was an unexpected turn of events. The opening piano chords to the last song are enough to let me know the previous song, got all the rock out of their system. Yorke's ethereal falsetto slides in to do what he is expected to do at this point.
This album might be a meandering exercise in indulgence for Yorke and Greenwood, but it is still better than what most indie rock bands are doing. However, I will round it down to an 8.5, as it feels like a great deal of themes are being recycled here.If you are a Radiohead fan you will find this hits the spot without delivering.
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