Radiohead
My Iron Lung EP
Capitol

With the massive amount of written history concerning how Radiohead are the best album rock band since Floyd, the quality of their mid-period EPs released between giant peaks of rock progression are chronically overlooked. This UK version of the My Iron Lung EP is being reissued by Capitol/EMI only to be continually skipped over by most novice shoppers in pursuit of the band's much-adored, late 90s triumvirate of classics (The Bends to Kid A). It's worth the price tag just for outlining their decision making: "The Trickster" is caught their quintessential early gloominess, as "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong" conveys early musings at super-sonic attitudes that would soon after give birth to "The Tourist" and "Let Down".

As with most of Radiohead's B-Sides catalogue, the other added bonus is a chance to hear them wearing their influences on their sleeve: "Lewis (Mistreated)" and "Permanent Daylight" show how much more they had to do with REM and Sonic Youth than Rush, as "Lozenge of Love" finds Thom Yorke in a shameless yet tasteful Jeff Buckley impersonation. Yet for a famously flawless band, the concluding, acoustic version of "Creep" is no easy listen even for Pablo Honey fans. Yorke vocally rapes his most hated and overplayed work with shrieks and moans you'd expect from lesser imitators like Muse.

Copyright © 2007 Matthew DeMello