Genuine Question: What do you miss most in The Smile vs Radiohead?

Not trying to say The Smile is as good as Radiohead (they aren't!) but honestly I feel many fans don't like The Smile just because... they're not Radiohead

What is the reason you don't like them as much? What do you miss the most?

I'll go first: The Smile is right behind Radiohead in quality for me. Not sure how it would be if Radiohead were to continue releasing instead of The Smile. Better? Worse? I don't know

I do miss some of the atmosphere Radiohead has, that "magic", as well as some more intrincated layers and soundscapes, that come mostly with more time tinkering and the studio, and having 5 guys... as well as Colin's bass (his basslines and tone are great - but Thom also delivers)

But I feel Thom Yorke's songwriting improved a bit in the Smile's output, recently, while I miss the rest of the band

I feel A Light For Attracting Attention was The Smile still finding their sound - and so it sounds like a "cheaper" Radiohead, but also somewhat fresh. Nigel being the producer and also some songs being Radiohead songs we heard before contributes to this

But with WoE and Cutouts they found their sound, and I just feel like it's a natural evolution of Thom and Jonny, with Skinner's amazing drumming to back it up

You can't argue that Bending Hectic is maybe one of the best songs they released since In Rainbows, the best "banger" for sure! Teleharmonic and Read The Room are just GREAT songs, and I don't miss anything really - because these are their songs, and they feel complete with just these 3 guys!

I was blown away by Cutouts, which seems to divide opinions, but we get a nice ballad with Foreign Spies, some The Bends meets later Radiohead meets Eastern Music "mashup" with Instant Psalm (instant classic?) and then Zero Sum which is the most fast paced and fun song Thom and Jonny wrote in a long time imo. Would these songs be better with Radiohead? WHO KNOWS! All I know is I enjoy them a lot!

Also apparently Radiohead were never able to finish Bodies Laughing, and, here it is, in all its glory - a masterpiece, imo!

Vocally I think Thom is better than the last Radiohead albums, just my opinion!

Loving both, and not trying to make it look like The Smile are "the new Radiohead", which they aren't, genuinely interested in hearing everyone else's takes on this!