Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
 |
Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: Jon Roe |
What happened to the fun OK Go? They’re back with another compelling and playful music video, but as you delve into Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, you realize they’re not quite the anthem-writing, girl-chasing, party boys they made themselves out to be in their previous two albums.
The band, best known for propelling themselves with the one-take, treadmill-dancing YouTube video for ‘Here It Goes Again,’ continue that strategy with the video to ‘WTF?,’ which features the liberal use of stop-motion imagery. Beyond that, their most recent release is a departure, both thematically and aurally.
OK Go’s previous releases were straight-up guitar-driven rock albums with pop melodies. Of the Blue Colour follows the recent trend in popular music towards dance-y rhythms, relying more heavily on keyboards and digital sounds. This might be due to the switch at the keyboard/guitar position, vacated by Andy Duncan and filled by Andy Ross. Or it might be the influence of producer Dave Fridmann, who has notably worked with the Flaming Lips and MGMT. There are definitely elements of both of those bands in Of the Blue Colour – the more psychedelic audio manipulation of MGMT’s work and many of the sounds of recent Lips albums. Indeed, the scratchy intro into the guitar solo of ‘Needing/Getting’ and the Wayne Coyne-esque vocals on ‘Back from Kathmandu’ suggest a strong Flaming Lips influence.
For a band that presents itself as fun-loving and wacky, the album is a bit of a downer. Okay, so maybe the girl-chasing is still there. Most of the songs are about love. But OK Go has reached an uncomfortable spot in the social media age, where a band’s low-budget YouTube videos are met with more anticipation than their albums. When a band sucks you in with videos featuring a lot of wrapping paper, you hope to open a present that’s a party hat or a streamer. Not something that’s only half fun. Like a puppy with one eye. To wit, the last song of the album, ‘In the Glass,’ is a six-minute long drone-fest where the lyrics “what have I done?” and “every day is the same” are repeated.
There are some saving graces. The strangeness of ‘WTF?,’ the familiar driving and mood-lifting stomp-clap of ‘White Knuckles’ and the simple keyboard melody of ‘End Love’ are highlights on an album full of meh moments.
Thanks, OK Go. What happened to “Let it rain, let it pour / Hallelujah”?
