Peruvian zine Caleta finds Radiohead's The Bends good but not enough

F. Malhecho reviews The Bends in the second issue of Caleta, a Peruvian zine, as a dinner whose main course never arrives, with the My Iron Lung EP as the starter. “Creep”, he admits, had set his hopes high.

He finds the debut's formula carried over, with mostly mid-tempo songs, distorted guitars at the peaks and lyrics about doubt and anguish. Still he refuses to call the record mediocre or self-indulgent. He picks out the opening of “Planet Telex”, ranks “High and Dry” among the year's best slow songs, and likes the strings on “Fake Plastic Trees” and the dreamlike “(Nice Dream)”. Half the album's effect, he reckons, is the feeling in Thom Yorke's voice.

His verdict is that Radiohead want to be a top-tier band and have not yet made the record that gets them there, though he allows that others may put it among the year's five best.