Who's House Are You Haunting Tonight

I was introduced to OK Go a couple years back when their song Get Over It was featured one of the Madden games. The song was a catchy power pop with a sing along chorus that gave me the impression that they were Midwest’s version of Weezer. But like most songs that are featured in EA Sports games, the song got so overplayed thanks to my hours devoted to the games and would finding myself muting the game because each song sent me into instant spasms.

Getting back to present day, I was intrigued when I heard the band was releasing a new album, sans video game promotion, Oh No. In the first half of the album, they follow the formula of Get Over It with it fast, guitar heavy sound over bratty lyrics. The opening track, Invincible, explodes over the speakers. Then we get Do What You Want another fast one that sounds like a lost song from the Primal Scream’s library.

Whenever the band tries to slow things down, the music really isn’t as good. Songs like Let it Rain and Maybe This Time just don’t stand up to their faster counterparts. Oh Lately it’s So Quiet is the only exception of the slower sect here with the singer trying his hand and falsetto and background singers repeating “Oh no”, throughout the song. But in the end, the band just seems too bratty; the allure of Weezer songs is Rivers Cuomo’s occasional self-loathing. OK Go should learn some of that humility.

Song to Download – Invincible

Oh No gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.