Radiohead is a young English band with both feet firmly planted in the past. "The Bends" is a CD that sounds like the Beatles in their late '60s prime.

Radiohead makes no apologies for its style. "I wish it was the '60s/I wish I could be happy/I wish that something would happen," the band sings on the title track, a number filled with psychedelic guitar licks and abstract lyrics.

Lead singer Thom Yorke's voice is filled with anguish and emotion. "High and Dry" is an acoustic number laced with melancholy; "Fake Plastic Trees" offers bittersweet longing.

The band displays its soft side on the moody "Nice Dreams," and "My Iron Lung" is sort of a poor man's "Strawberry Fields Forever."

Radiohead is a quirky band with surreal ambience that overflows on the group's new CD. Rating: ***.