New Music Reviews: The Smile and The Last Dinner Party

Two hyped British releases this week. Both are worthy yet the lead single overshadows the rest of the record both times. Read on for more information about two-thirds of Radiohead and five ladies in corsets.

The Last Dinner Party

Prelude to Ecstasy

2024, 7.5/10
The Last Dinner Party are this year’s hip new band from the UK. Prelude to Ecstasy has topped the UK charts. It’s not surprising, as there’s a lot of personality. They have a distinctive look with their corsets.

Their sound leans heavily on 1970s glam rock – there are traces of ABBA, Queen, and Sparks. The five-piece band don’t feature a drummer. They’re good musicians – lead guitarist Emily Roberts played in a Queen tribute band. The songwriting doesn’t always measure up to the band’s assured energy – perhaps not surprising for a debut from an ambitious band.

Lead single ‘Nothing Matters’ towers over the rest of the record. Vocalist Abigail Morris sounds gloriously arch spitting out the hook (“I will f*** you/Like nothing matters”). It’s a little like an emotionally conflicted late-1970s ABBA track, with traces of Sparks’ theatrical madness.

The rest of the record struggles to reach such lofty heights. But ‘Burn Alive’ is memorable, with its soaring melodic flourishes. ‘My Lady of Mercy’ brushes close to ridiculousness with its theatrical vocals and glammy guitars – it’s flimsy but fun. The band’s less convincing on slower material like ‘Beautiful Boy’ – when they turn down the fun and energy levels, the songwriting skill’s not always there.

Prelude to Ecstasy is fun But the band’s second album will need better songwriting chops if they want a last career.

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The Smile

Wall of Eyes

2024, 7.5/10
Radiohead haven’t made a new album since 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool. However, their two most distinctive members – vocalist Thom Yorke and guitarist Johnny Greenwood – are back for their second record with their trio The Smile. The third member is Tom Skinner, the drummer of the London jazz band Sons of Kemet. 

Their debut album was good, but not great. I had high hopes for their follow-up based on the lead single ‘Bending Hectic’. It’s the best thing from the Radiohead camp in years, with its thrilling guitar lines and rousing crescendo. It’s about a car crash, providing a link to ‘Air Bag’ on OK Computer, Radiohead’s most beloved work.

But the remainder of the record is Inconsistent. The energetic songs like ‘Read the Room’ and ‘Under Our Pillows’, with off-kilter rhythms and traces of math rock, are strong They often delve into textural material, which works on the gorgeous ‘Teleharmonic’.

With Radiohead’s fabulous track record, I’m probably expecting a little much from Wall of Eyes. It certainly has terrific moments.

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