"a throwback to a simpler era of self-expression" - really?! out of the mouths of publicists, truly... and it's ridiculous to pretend that sweet, simple pop songs aren't available in the indie world. hell, that's the domain of most of the bands covered by this site. again, it's okay to like them, but stop pretending they're some standardbearer against the onslaught of pre-fabricated pop artists.

as to the inept postulating by the grim, radiohead made $3 million off the online release of a new album (all of it going directly to them), plus it's going into record stores next week. maybe you can look at it as gimmicky, but no band of that popularity had ever tried something like it before. it was successful & points to new avenues in distribution models available to bands in the future.

also, i never claimed that the lashes were more gimmicky than any other band; definitely calling bullshit on that strawman. it's just that their gimmicks aren't very good & more important (stating yet again for emphasis), they've relied on their silly antics to make people notice them more than the music they write. radiohead write good songs. no gimmick in the world will make people continue to buy their albums unless they have the goods to back it up.

you're not even close to making a credible argument after acknowleding that you can't compare the music because that's the only point that matters.