An up-and-coming band with a hit album on their hands covering a song from one of their influences? At this point, it is a rite of passage. Worse bands have provided less. Remember when Wet Leg covered Psycho Killer? No, you do not. There’s no need to dwell on the past anyway, what with Friko working overtime to make this cover of Radiohead’s Weird Fishes/Arpeggi work. It does. That is the short of it. The In Rainbows essential has been put through the ringer as Radiohead has as a band. TikTok has mauled them like a Catholic in a Roman Colosseum. Frightful times ahead for those who seek the flash-in-the-pan aesthetics of social media relevancy. But Friko has avoided those pitfalls with their latest album – and though they may find themselves as the backing tracks to the day in the life of someone unimportant – their work will rise above.
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi will, particularly. Covers are not a release to pour your expectations into. A band can take it any way they like. This is not a deviation from what Radiohead did. We do not have the Bob Dylan approach of whittling down the lyrics and changing the tone to match his contemporary blues swing. Friko has instead kept it faithful, almost to the letter with some sharper instrumentals to distinguish this from the Radiohead original. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi is an understanding of influence and respect for songs which are held with an intimate effect. It is clear Friko are fans of Thom Yorke and company, the massive impact Radiohead made and the wordplay on display from this In Rainbows cut.
A chance to pay respect to that by offering what is, essentially, strong singers performing their favourites, is a neat dedication. Paramore did not change too much of Burning Down the House, and we have heard the disastrous consequences of what can happen when too much is changed on the rest of Everybody’s Getting Involved. If you do not wish to sully the relationship with an artist of influence, a straight-shooting cover like this Friko working is the way to go. No harm caused, no issues created. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi is as close to the original as the band intended – and it is, in a wider view of the single, a bold decision. It implies Friko see themselves as up to scratch, as confident now as Radiohead were at the time of this seminal release.
Belief in the self is all we have and for musicians like Friko, who are making massive waves with their strong original work, it feels only fair to hear them out on a slightly altered yet not-at-all different cover of Weird Fishes/Arpeggi. Enjoyable but not the go-to version. Such is the life of most cover songs. Few are doing it better than the original artist though the outliers are clear. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi in its original form remains the strongest, but Friko never intended to overtake Radiohead with their work here. This is just a chance to pay tribute to an artist of true influence as The Hives did with Blue Swede or Idles with Solomon Burke’s Cry To Me. Friko has not tried to boast or brag, but is more than happy to showcase their instrumental skills are up to the task of understanding the tempo and flow of a fine song.
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