DUDS OF THE MONTH

Thom Yorke
"The Eraser "
(XL)

I'd hoped that either I would learn to like this Thommy Boy excursus or the disaffected young professionals who hang on his every megrim would call an anxiety attack what it is. No such luck. Few believe Yorke's solo daybyew has the weight of a Radiohead album, that increasingly rare and invariably overrated thing. But such is the lure of his hypersensitivity that his admirers forgive and even applaud the extreme attenuation of this tastefully decorated click-and-loop. One rationalization is the lyrics, which state his overstated concerns in so many statements rather than camouflaging them in metaphor. And I admit it, the one about the rain is pretty good.

Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Stadium Arcadium"
(Warner Bros.)

Only the familiar tale of their Grammy validation renders the familiar tale of their double album that shoulda been a single mildly interesting. Once a bassist's band, now a guitarist's band, they're most of all an '80s band, their spiritual core, such as it is, is rooted in the agony and ecstasy of heroin and cocaine. At least when the bassist ruled they livened up this overworked dynamic with beats. Now they tax it with tunes, at least when they're on their game -- as in the dead-end relationship song "Desecration Smile" and the marriage proposal "Hard to Concentrate."

MORE DUDS

Dan Bern
"Breathe" (Messenger)

Lindsey Buckingham
"Under the Skin" (Reprise)

Califone
"Roots and Crowns" (Thrill Jockey)

Comets on Fire
"Avatar" (Sub Pop)

The Dears
"Gang of Losers" (Arts & Crafts)

DeVotchKa
"Curse Your Little Heart" (Ace Fu)

Electric Six
"Switzerland" (Metropolis)

Josef K
"Entomology" (Domino)

Bela Lakatos & the Gypsy Youth Project
"Introducing Bela Lakatos & the Gypsy Youth Project" (World Music Network)

The Long Winters
"Putting the Days to Bed" (Barsuk)

Busta Rhymes
"The Big Bang" (Aftermath)

Caetano Veloso
"Ce" (Nonesuch)