Radiohead – ‘Pop Is Dead’ (Parlophone)

‘Pop Is Dead’ kicks in, with an immediate statement of intent as Thom Yorke sings “I know pop is dead, long live pop / It died a death by back catalogue”which I think you’ll agree hits a chord, one look at the current charts a true one.

The song sis more uptempo and harder than their last Top 40 single ‘Anyone Can Play Guitar’ which should surpass their previous single, unless ‘Creep’ would be allowed air play. ‘Pop Is Dead’ is not present on the ‘Pablo Honey’ debut album, is backed by another new song ‘Banana Co.’ which further demonstrates the band’s diversity, the single also includes a couple of live versions of the excellent ‘Creep’ and ‘Ripchord’ recorded from their recent Town & Country gig.

Radiohead, on current showing are both articulate and powerful – what more do you want? Or as Thom puts it “So what pop is dead, it’s not a great loss / So many facelifts, his face flew off.” can’t say fairer than that. 8.2/10

Steve Janes