Pop music has been stuck in a recent overly emotional rut. It's either emo-boy whiny or estrogen-laced angry.
Need a fix of happiness?
OK Go explodes into the pop scene with blissfully pure, unpretentious bubble-gum rock.
What's so refreshing about OK Go's debut, self-titled release is its infectious, exuberant rock 'n' roll sound. It's modestly sexy, self-depreciatingly smart and, yes, more than slightly cheesy.
OK Go is like an Orlando boy band that binged on 90's post-grunge alternative then got served up a dessert of flashy hair-band arena rock.
Instead of a bunch of dancing hotties, the lineup consists of lead singer and guitarist Damian Kulash, bassist Tim Nordwind, drummer Dan Konopka, and keyboardist and guitarist Andy Duncan.
OK Go formed in Chicago in 1998. Even before releasing its debut album on Capitol Records, it opened for a variety of notorious rockers, including Elliott Smith and The Promise Ring.
OK Go just wrapped up a tour supporting upcoming pop-rockers Phantom Planet and established pop-rockers Superdrag.
The quartet pumps out an exuberant first album that bursts with straightforward power pop mixed with quirky samples and lots of synthesizer action.
Kulash served as the album's principle writer and co-producer, but Tom Lorde-Alge stands out as the obvious mastermind.
Lorde-Alge has mixed albums for just about every power pop/rock band to grace the airwaves since the mid-90's. Blink-182, Eve 6, the Goo Goo Dolls, Hanson and Weezer are just several of his prominent clients.
Now, Lorde-Alge has graced OK Go with his masterful mix.
The album has all the Lorde-Alge signatures, like clapping and background "ah-ah"s. Opening track "Get Over It" features we-will-rock-you-handclaps that get layered with power chords, the occasional "hey!" and some good old-fashioned synthesizer.
"Get Over It" is definitely the album's catchiest, most radio-worthy track (which could be why it's the album's first single), but "Don't Ask Me," with its walking-on-sunshine ebullience and "You're So Damn Hot," with its bratty groove, are competent rivals.
Incidentally, these three addictive songs are OK Go's first three tracks. The album kicks off with a jumping-on-the-bed mood, but some mid-tempo tracks interrupt the album's overall quirky swiftness.
Sluggish "What To Do" and "Shortly Before the End" drag, but mid-tempo "There's a Fire" is a standout slower song, with its easy 70's synth and absorbing chorus.
OK Go shamelessly reflects its diverse influences. Heavy-handed Pixies-ish "Return" and Reel Big Fish-esque "The Fix is In" are just two of the album's blatantly copycat tracks. But hey, no one said pop music has to be original to be good.
In fact, there's not much original about OK Go. It's emulation of mid-90's radio-rock, with bits of punk pop and a whole lot of 70's synth create simple, unpretentious, crowd-pleasing pop rock that's relievingly free of both angst and anger.
