The Smile, the supergroup of Radiohead's Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood along with Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner have released a pair of albums in the mere two years of the band's existence, to the pleasure and concern of fans.
It's a huge bonus because the songs are Radioheady with Yorke's unmistakeable vocals and Greenwood's moody vibes but the tunes are different enough and a tad more freer as to not seem stale.
The new batch of songs are so appealing to so many that it makes fans wonder if The Smile could just take over for Radiohead who have been breaking new ground since the early 1990s.
In the last 16 years, however, Radiohead has only made three new albums. Is there something about Ed O’Brien, Phil Selway and Jonny’s older brother, Colin that's stifling Thom's creativity that he can knock out two Smile records so quickly compared to the group that put him on the map?
Side projects that unexpectedly take off are rare, but not non-existent. Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard found success with The Postal Service. Jack White did three records with The Raconteurs.
Members of Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and The Screaming Trees had a gold record off their sole Mad Season LP. And even Tom Morello found an outlet with B-Real of Cypress Hill and Public Enemy's Chuck D with Prophets of Rage while Rage Against the Machine were not seeing eye-to-eye.
Those quirky boys, Thom, Tom and Jonny are no different. Yorke is hyper-prolific, churning out three solo albums, a trio of EPs, and even a Grammy-nominated soundtrack for the 2018 horror film Suspiria.
Greenwood is no stranger to film work either, he's created nine so far and has become one of Paul Thomas Anderson's favorite collaborator, as he's scored several of his films beginning in 2007 with There Will Be Blood through 2018's Phantom Thread.
The Smile have been playing a good chunk of their newest release, Wall of Eyes, as they traveled around UK for the first leg of their tour. Of the eight new tracks that dropped in January, the trio played seven in Glasgow, including the live debut of "Don't Get Me Started."
A few nights before that show either the space cakes or the groove was too much for one fan, who passed out during, ironically, "Read The Room."
The singer/bassist stopped the number and told security to "sort it out" before they would continue.
In Birmingham, before going into the final piece of the encore, Yorke probably wished some of the rowdy fans had passed out. After hearing some hooting while he was playing the piano intro of "You Know Me!" he told the mood-breakers to "shut up" for five minutes.
Is it good when Thom is so focused he's prickly? Yes! It means he cares. Which is what we should all want from our favorite stars. No one wants anyone to phone it in.
Many of these are songs the trio haven't played very much live. Some of these venues haven't been graced by Radiohead in decades. And a few of these tunes are quite complicated. "Read The Room," for example has segments in 11/8 time.
The Smile is both pushing itself creatively and letting their hair down. That gives Radiohead fans a bit of a scare that if Thom and Jonny are having this much fun... then why get the old band back together?
The gents are taking a few months off to enjoy the spring before diving back into it in June for a festival in Denmark and then traveling through Europe. They then will take July off and go back to pleasing more Europeans in August.
Tickets are scarce, but if they are available you can find them on the band's website.
