NME backs Radiohead over Levitation and Cardiacs at the Astoria

Andrew Collins went to the London Astoria for NME to review a double-header by Levitation and the Cardiacs, and came away backing Radiohead, who were also on the bill. Thom Yorke followed a delicate guitar break with a “f*** you!”, which put Collins in mind of Cathal Coughlan, and there was even a bass solo.

He thinks the Thursday night pairing was over-ambitious. The balcony was closed so the floor would look full, and it still wasn't. The headliners, he jokes, were lucky to have Radiohead along as life support, with the playfulness of the Milltowns and the attitude of Kingmaker.

The band had given NME's On page the finger the week before, and Collins backs them all the same. He calls it angst music that has been thought through and then plugged in, and says he can see Radiohead taking off.