Wall of Eyes – The Smile 

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2024	Wall of Eyes	The Smile	★★½	58	Rock	Alternative Rock

Wall of Eyes, the second record by Radiohead side project The Smile, is a more mellow, subdued effort compared to 2022’s A Light for Attracting Attention. 

Even more so than on the first record, Jonny Greenwood’s orchestrations are the star of the show, transforming soft, otherwise forgettable tracks into wonderful blooms of color. Peaceful tracks become eerie, dissonant landscapes, and zen moments occasionally build to an explosion of strings and electric guitar. 

There isn’t too much intrigue or energy though in the base melodies and chords the songs build off of. Most tracks start off with meandering, light guitar work and subtle vocals by Thom Yorke that — as pleasant as they are and as welcoming as any new Yorke track is for starving Radiohead fans — aren’t particularly memorable on their own. “I Quit” probably has the best orchestral work here, and the warmer vibes make it stand out a little compared to the other soft moments –  “Friend of a Friend,” the title track, the ambient-inspired “Teleharmonic” and the piano-based closing track “You Know Me!” They’re all fine to an extent, and pretty instrumentation and chords fade in and out, but they’re missing some edginess.    

We still get a good hypnotic, math-rock inspired guitar jam in “Under our Pillows,” which has a cool, dark, key changing chorus and loose bridge that fills the role of a “Thin Thing” or “The Opposite” on the prior record. We get a heavy, plodding, almost stoner metal punk track with “Read the Room,” which has some trippy synths, mood swings and killer drum and bass work. And “Bending Hectic” — a  concert standout that was released as the record’s first single — is a beautiful freeform song with daydream-like, reflective verses and a huge, hard rock conclusion. 

For a band that started loosely as a “post-punk” project, this album could have used a bit more  punk energy, quick drums and electric guitar. What happened to the edge they brought to “You Will Never Work In Television Again,” “A Hairdryer” or “We Don’t Know What Tomorrow Brings”?  Radiohead’s artsy side makes everything they touch a bit unique, but without the rock energy The Smile previously brought, Wall of Eyes all falls a little flat.