ITCH

This EP documents Radiohead's early material, recorded live whilst touring for Pablo Honey. I am not sure if this EP was released during the time of the tour, since it has the same style logo and artwork as the debut album, but it is not documented anywhere. Apparently it was not released until 1998.

This EP has some decent live tracks. "Killer Cars" and "Banana Co." are fan favourite B- Sides and are good additions to this EP. Some of the tracks that appear on Pablo Honey are not really necessary and for collectors only. This EP has an overall weak sound and is solely for collectors purchases only. "My Iron Lung", "Airbag/How Am I Driving?" and "I Might Be Wrong"are better EP's than this one. The latter having much better live performances. If you like Pablo Honey then this might be in your interest.

This is i think after Drill, their first EP, and of course here we can find Pablo Honey`s songs, and some B -sides of early Radiohead work. If you like early Radiohead material, which of course is not progressive rock, you should get this EP, the first song is Stop Whispering, the 4th track in Pablo Honey, good song, but not the best, next is the horrible "fast" version of Thinking About You, next a couple of b-sides, Faithless the Wonder Boy and Banana Co. , both are good songs, some of their repressed songs i dont know, then from the 5th to the 7th song, are live versions, Killer Cars, another b-side one of the most beautiful songs of that years, i really like it, Vegetable, one of my favorite Pablo Honey`s song, and then You, the last song of this EP is Creep, in acoustic version, less known than the original version, and its pretty good, is simple i know, but i has emotion and good voice, of course this album is only for fans and collectors.

This is a pretty decent representation of early Radiohead seen through rare versions, b-sides and live cuts compiled from different rare recordings from around the time of the recording of their first album "Pablo Honey". For those who like the early straightforward sounding rock of Radiohead and despair over the creative turn the band took, then this is a good addition to your library in that it offers rare material that was released previously, but now is very hard to find. It is a decent enough collection and the rawness of the sound actually grows on you after you get used to the sound of the earlier versions of the known tracks, plus you get music you haven't heard if you don't have the singles.

"Stop Whispering" is on the Pablo Honey album, but this version is the "US version" which is a remix which features strings and the tempo is slowed down from the original. It is a pretty good version and an interesting variation that is good for fans to argue over which they like the best. "Thinking About You" is a very different version from the album in that this one is more punk oriented and much faster than the familiar version, though it is in reality, the original version on this EP. I actually like this version and after getting used to it, you might think the album version is too slow and lifeless. "Faithless the Wonder Boy" is a great B-side from the "Anyone Can Play Guitar" single and would have been a worthy enough addition to the album. "Banana Co." is also an early version and this version was a B-side to "Pop is Dead". It is much different from the version that appeared on the "Street Spirit" single that came out 2 years after this. It is an acoustic version recorded at a radio station. Decent enough version. The next 3 songs "Killer Cars", "Vegetable" and "You" are all live versions of those songs which were previously available on a very rare 12" single of the song "Creep" in a slightly different order, but these are all great live performances full of spirit and great versions of these tracks. The last track is a very nice acoustic version of "Creep" also recorded live at a radio station. This track would be available on the "My Iron Lung" EP a few years later and was used to help sell that single.

These are all decent versions and the grittiness and rawness and utter noisy excitement from early Radiohead shows are showcased in the 3 live cuts. It is a nice window to their early years and if you can't get a hold of these tracks on other EPs or singles, then this is a good collection to have. For early Radiohead fans and alternative rock fans alike, but there is nothing progressive on this EP, just great rock.