By Alex Brenner
While most people think of treadmills when they think of OK Go, I think of hooks. This band could always write a great hook like “Get Over It” or “Lately It’s So Quiet”, and while they never seem to be able to settle on a sound of their own, their albums are still quite solid. On their new record they go from Diamonds and Pearls era Prince to T. Rex to The Cars fairly seamlessly. With today’s musical trends it is refreshing to hear melody, a little bit of rock and just plain good songs. This record is not breaking any new ground, however for OK Go it’s definitely a step forward.
The record kicks off with “WTF” sounding like a left over Prince meets Beck track, singer Damian Kulash’s falsetto is perfect. This is more of a dance floor record; a mix of 70′s funk and disco and 80′s pop. You won’t find as many big choruses as on their previous records but it’s still fairly enjoyable. While the slick production courtesy of Flaming Lips producer David Fridmann really makes this record shine, certain songs like “Skyscrapers” fall a bit short. Then you have a song like “White Knuckles” which is a mix of Kool and the Gang and Prince’s more guitar oriented material to keep you dancing.
Where would a dance record be without vocoder induced vocals…? Exactly. “Before the Earth was Round” has got the vocals and funky bass to match. It sounds like a robot love song but again, a very catchy pop song. What OK Go really excels at are the slow jams. Ballads like “Last Leaf” and “While You Were Asleep” seem to sound more natural than the forced dance numbers. Kulash has a great rock and roll delivery and very clever lyrics. The band is solid and not afraid to try new sounds; which in some cases can be their weakness. Sometimes not having any boundaries can make a band wander a little off course. On their first record they nearly had one sound which was almost Weezeresque/Cars like power pop. Their second release, Oh No, really showed their songwriting chops and studio prowess. This third installment is a little bit of both but with a little more pizzazz as they say.
On the surface Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky
I was fairly excited for this record and while I think there are some great tracks, I really wanted to hear some of the good rock which can be demonstrated in their live shows. This album reminds me a lot of Rilo Kiley’s Under the Blacklight. Sure the melodies were tight, songs were good and the retro dance thing seemed to work, but it did not capture the energy of their live shows. OK Go cannot seem to capture that spirit on record. I’d like to see the next record rawer and straight forward. A more back to basics approach would serve this band well, but in the meantime let’s dance.
OK Go – WTF? from OK Go on Vimeo.
