Reviewed by Matt Lancaster
Do you remember that band that had that huge YouTube video hit? You know, the one where a bunch of weird looking white guys performed synchronized dance moves on a treadmill. If you are part of the YouTube era (really now, who isn’t?), of course you do; many listeners were introduced to the catchy, indie rock band OK GO due to this video. The treadmill video was brilliant. It featured some amazing treadmill choreography and a great, catchy tune. Sure it was a little odd, but that’s why everyone loves it. It was low budget and genius. It caught on like wildfire and many of us were introduced to the dance-pop rock band. I know that’s how I was introduced to them. There are many a days where I was out running or working and one of their tracks came on and I’d instantly feel the need to bust a move. Yep, that was a catchy album.
Now the boys have grown up a little bit and the treadmills are stashed in the attic. Unfortunately, while OK GO has grown, in this case it is not for the better. The new album “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky” is almost a total departure from their original sound. There are a ton of influences that are highlighted and emulated on this album. Prince is a very prominent influence on this latest album, evidenced by Damien Kulash wailing in falsetto for the vast majority of the album’s run-time. David Bowie and The Flaming Lips are a few other artists that have obviously influenced OK GO’s latest work. OK GO even went so far as to recruit The Flaming Lips producer,Dave Fridmann; his influence can be heard in the largely treated drums, the dreamy, and lush landscape that OK GO attempts to create.
The only problem is they never quite hit it like their influences. It feels somewhat forced and disjointed at times compared to their straight forward dance-pop. Although, some of the songs are familiar due to Damien’s voice, that is the extent to the familiarity. It is definitely a departure from their past work and they are moving in “their” direction. Is this the direction for all of the fans to enjoy, probably not. So let’s discuss the album one track at a time. OK GO starts off strong and totally different with the track WTF. Now, I won’t explicitly spell out what WTF means as we are in the era of texting acronyms so we should all know what this means. This is a very promising track musically. You can tell this is going to be a much bigger production than their last album. You have some big sounds, heavy fuzz guitar, Prince like Falsetto, some funky guitar riffs, and a Jack White type of solo. You can tell this is going to be a different album but you want to see where this road is going to lead…for now. As you reach the 2nd song of the album, “This too shall pass” you start to feel the album’s momentum building. You have this really fuzzy heavy bass going in the background and you feel that signature OK GO dance vibe even though it’s a bit different than what you are used to. This song is so layered an anthemic that you just start to groove to it and the bridge fits in so sweet. This is a well written and crafted song and you are on your way to enjoying what seems to be a great album. Coming off of the high from the past song you reach “All is Not Lost”. This is a heavily treated track. You can hear the layers and see the more dreamy landscape being laid out with this track. It is soaking wet with reverb as if you are in this large chamber hall. It’s a steady, strong straight forward ballad from the boys with infectious groove. So far so good guys but as we get in to middle of the CD it starts to fall apart. The first song which really started to wear on me was “Skyscrapers”. This is one of the more heavily produced tracks on the album and is full of Prince rip offs and never ending falsetto that wears on you like a grinding organ. The old feel is now gone and the new feel just doesn’t…well…feel right at all. It seems like this is being forced a bit and feels a little unnatural. You can see the landscape of this dream world but it seems like it might turn in to a nightmare. “White Knuckles” is another familiar track from the OK GO influences as it beckons to the days of Bowie but falls short. It is once again heavily treated as most of the songs on this album are. It has a really sweet guitar solo which saves the song somewhat but once again, another let down. Now as I’ve enjoyed seeing the boys break out a little bit the song “End Love” reiterates why I hate much of the music from the 80s. This track reminded me of a bad 80s music video without the video. I’m pretty sure if this is made a video you’ll see a sweet arctic white keytar, ugh. Unfortunately the song to follow doesn’t get much better. “Before The Earth Was Round” doesn’t make things much better. Still having that big production isn’t the problem but the effects laden vocals of Damien is the issue. The effect is so thick that a lot of the times the words in which he sings can’t even be understood. It is almost inaudible. Finally though there is a gem of a song to come up on the playlist. “Last Leaf” is a great acoustic track to this heavily produced album. It is a refreshing, vintage sounding, old school feel type of track. It has some great lyrics, it’s open and airy, and has some great acoustic guitar. This track brings you to a 60s acoustic type of feeling song and is a great addition to this somewhat disappointing album. Luckily for you and I the album takes a strong turn here at the end. The song right after “Last Leaf” is “Back from Kathmandu” and it is yet another gem on the album. These two songs are by far the strongest musically and lyrically. There is yet another great acoustic guitar track accompanied by the larger dreamy production. This track beckons a very Flaming Lips / Jane’s Addiction type of feel and does a good job of emulating but being its own. There are some nice dreamy vocal lines dripping with great lines. This track is a keeper for sure. After this high though, the next two tracks fall back down to the levels of the middle of the album which is nothing special. It’s different, sure, but nothing special. I have to admit I was excited to hear a new OK GO album but was let down in the end. Was it because they weren’t playing that great infectious dancey pop? No, not really. I’m disappointed that they couldn’t deliver their new style convincingly. I’m happy the boys followed their influences and wants but in the end they just weren’t able to deliver a quality album.
2/5 Stars for Of the Blue Colour of the Sky
