Review - Ok Go: Oh No [edit]

Oh No OK Go Date: 2006-11-07   —   DVD / VHS product page Rating:

This rating may surprise you, given how effusive I was about Ok Go's stage performance.  And I don't normally reference Pitchfork reviews -- I find their level of pseudo-artsy arrogance to be overwhelming and mean-spirited. 



Unfortunately, their review of Ok Go's second and latest album is kinda...right.  Thought it pains me to say so.  It's not that the album is bad...it's that the album is kinda boring.  The music is not meant to be taken very seriously, but a lot of these tracks will remind you of another specific song about 3 seconds into each one.  And not in a fun-new-spin-on-an-old-sound Jamiroquai type of way.  Rather, it's more like a "like what I've heard from another artist but completely stale this time around" way. 



That's not to say there are no good songs.  The redeeming quality of the album resides in its catchiness, which cannot be denied on YouTube-video favorites like "A Million Ways" and the treadmill-king "Here It Goes Again."  "The House Wins," "Television, Television," "Invincible" and maybe a couple of others are worth sliding this thing back into the player or queueing up the Mp3s for.  "Oh Lately It's So Quiet" is a fun song about unresolved feelings surrounding an ex that Joe Yang would appreciate.  The rest?  Well...let's just say that Ok Go's sound needs a healthy dose of one of two things: a stiff drink to loosen up or original riffs.  Outside of about 6 songs that I really like on this release, I prefer the band's first album - so far.  We'll see if I change my mind over time.

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