MUSIC REVIEW: Ready, Set, ‘OK Go’
This week I had the intention of reviewing the new Lifehouse album, but when I was handed a copy of the new OK Go CD, I opted for that instead. I thought it better to review this little Chicago band I had never heard of because I had no previous bias.
Good choice.
OK Go was formed three years ago by Damian Kulash on vocals and guitar, Tim Nordwind on bass, Andy Duncan on keyboard and guitar, and Dan Konopka on drums. Their self-titled debut has crafted an album that is fun, but not silly, making it possible for one to accept them as serious musicians. Well, sort of serious.
This album isn’t about getting through hard times, it’s about getting through good times. Which is refreshing in a time when everyone from Tori Amos to Bon Jovi is writing post-Sept. 11 albums.
Absent on this album are the in-your-face lyrics so common in today’s music. Kulash doesn’t sing about wanting to kill his mother or finding something to break. These guys don’t need to clean out their closet, probably just a drawer full of games.
The album sounds like Weezer’s early stuff at times, but the band is probably more closely related to The Cars in the rock ‘n’ roll family tree, – perhaps a bastard son.
The album opens with their debut single, “Get Over It.” Catchy is the best word to describe this song. You’ll find yourself trying to sing along the first time you hear it, but don’t worry, the CD comes with the lyrics. The song begins with a single guitar beating a tune that sounds like the intro to Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” then stylishly dives into a very tongue-in-cheek punk song about people who complain no matter how good or bad it gets. Kulash himself complains that it “Makes you sick, Makes you ill, Had it up to the gills, Makes you cry while the milk still spills.”
Song two, “Don’t Ask Me,” proves this is not a “one good song album.” It has a big-band beat to it that makes you want to get up and dance. Here Kulash sings about his irritation with people who are only nice to your face. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten, You never liked that necklace. Kiss, kiss let’s meet for breakfast … Don’t act like you’re so kind. Don’t ask me how I’ve been.”
“You’re So Damn Hot,” is next in line. It’s a song about sticking with a girl even though she treats him bad, because, in his words, “You’re so damn hot.”
This is the third hard-hitting tune on the album, and it’s also the last. The other eight songs tone it down a little. This is a tactic commonly employed in the record industry. Pack the first half with up-tempo songs and then put the sappy songs on the second half for those who are still listening.
While there is a slow down in velocity, there is no letdown in substance. The album continues with the same attitude, leaving out cheesy, love songs. Songs about international issues and world peace take a back seat to fun. In the second half of this album, Kulash sings about trying to get away with lying and forgetting old girlfriends’ faces.
The one song that seems out of place is “Shortly Before the End.” Billy Corgan would be more suited for this mellow song about trying to live happy in a person’s dying hours.
The second half soon redeems itself though with, “The Fix Is In,” a tune in which the band’s passion for pingpong can be felt in the guitar’s bouncy behavior, and Kulash’s equally bouncy singing.
This album is a satisfying blend of talent and quirkiness. OK Go hasn’t covered any new ground here, but they have found some of the best parts of the well-mapped-out genres of punk, pop and big band.
This band is concerned with fun and they take their fun very serious, because as Kulash said in a recent interview with Blender Magazine, “Musically, I’ve always wanted to be upbeat and entertaining. There’s already enough testosterone boy-rock out there.”
Jared Quillen is a junior majoring in accounting. Comments can be sent to jaredquillen@cc.usu.edu.