Review: Thom Yorke "The Eraser"

Review: Thom Yorke "The Eraser"

Thom Yorke "The Eraser": Aidin Vaziri | Blip. Blonk. Phssst. Click. Tihhhs. Could there possibly be a worse way for a solo album by Thom Yorke to start? "Please excuse me, but I've got to ask, are you only being nice because you want something?" the Radiohead singer inquires in a voice that sounds as if he's already going to cry. Maybe it's because he knows the answer: Hell, yes! Buy a drum kit, write a proper tune, down a dozen raw eggs, run a marathon, punch the Loch Ness monster in the face, enter a hot-dog eating contest, listen to Gwen Stefani, have an orgy, do something meaningful with your life instead of obsessing over bad techno records and writing sad poetry. Yorke was clearly onto something when he discovered the Aphex Twin's deliberately impenetrable blips 'n' beeps and used them to reinvert rock 'n' roll on his band's two classic albums, "OK Computer" (1997) and "Kid A" (2000). But by the time Radiohead got around to releasing its latest, 2003's "Hail to the Thief," people were gagging for guitars and actual songs. Now out on his own, the front man has relapsed. "The Eraser" sounds like the soundtrack to one of those PlayStation games where a raccoon has to fight a squirrel in some futuristic tunnel, a cascade of pixelated beats and clipped synthesizer melodies with the added bonus of Yorke's pampered whining. Fact: Even Jean Michel Jarre would consider sound collages like "Skip Divided" and "Atoms for Peace" pretentious junk. "No more going to the dark side with your flying saucer eyes," Yorke sings. What does that even mean? At least "Harrowdown Hill" sounds like a decent demo for a Killers song. All it needs is a melody, some real instruments and, you know, a good singer. Why hasn't anyone bothered listening to Nirvana lately?