|
|
|
|
|
Sound Reviews
Substandard sophomore albums
By Troy Farah
Published on 01/28/2010
|
|
|
Artist: OK Go
Album: Of the Blue Colour of the Sky
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
OK Go built their fanbase on instant fame with the song “Here It Goes Again,” a popular YouTube video of choreographed treadmill dancing. Now the sharply dressed quartet is back with Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, attempting to upstage themselves once more.
Now their choreography extends much more from clever dancing to their music. Blue Colour is a more solid approach for the glam punk band, filling the speakers with hyper dance anthems and a pumping electronic undertow. OK Go is even trying to be profound. In some places, this departure of style works well, in others, it’s painful.
The album is based off an 1876 book by General A.J. Pleasonton called “The Influence of the Blue Ray of the Sunlight and of the Blue Colour of the Sky.” Of all the books in history, OK Go really chose a guidebook on agriculture written by a Civil War general? Couldn’t the band find a copy of Chaucer? This attempt is more vague than meaningful, but OK Go claims some of the melancholy themes include confusion, unanswered questions, global mechanics and, of course, women.
“WTF?” blasts off the album with an industrial static charge and a heavy bass line before lead singer Damian Kulash steps in with his high-pitched vocals.
It’s a different approach for OK Go, but it’s been done elsewhere ad nauseum, ending up as nothing more than a confused love song.
“This Too Shall Pass” is pure embodiment of the word “epic,” flowing with fanfares of trumpets and orchestral buildup with the surging video to match. Lyrically, the song is part existentialist lament, part a preachy “live your life today” attitude that has embodied every other OK Go album. Optimism is a great contrast to many of today’s dry, depressing acts, but after awhile, there’s only so much that can be said.
The rest of Blue Colour spirals down in much of the same manner. Kulash is heading somewhere deeper in “Skyscrapers” but ends up getting horribly lost. “End Love” sounds like a bargain bin disco song and “Last Leaf” is a limp, Jack Johnson rip-off.
Because of how crowded this album is, it’s hard to tell if OK Go is becoming more or less gimmicky. They seem to be doing far too much at once and trying to fill the void of substance with more unnecessary crap. OK Go may be one of the few bands with better music videos than music.
Artist: Vampire Weekend
Album: Contra
Rating: 2/5 stars
Vampires are all the rage these days, even if it’s just a band name. But apparently with Vampire Weekend their raging popularity is nothing more than hype. Their second release strives to broaden the band’s horizon, but falls pitifully short.
On Contra, Vampire Weekend returns with a traveled ear, bending over backwards to sound tropical and worldly. The heavy use of conga drums, Spanish guitar and other Latin American instruments have indeed expanded Weekend’s musical vision, but it seems to be a substitute for actual substance.
Like their earlier eponymous release, Weekend employs beginner guitar lesson riffs typical of preppy indie rock alongside softly-sung, junior-high lyrics. Modern music is saturated with these dime-a-dozen bands that don’t realize quiet vocals don’t imply sensitivity; generally they imply boredom and inflict drowsiness.
Beginning the album with all the feel-good kitsch of a 1970s travel brochure, “Horchata” is either a song about a Mexican drink or somehow revisiting forgotten emotions. Neither idea is presented intelligibly, burdened with lead singer Ezra Koeing’s obnoxious vocals. Delivery is key here and Vampire Weekend just doesn’t have it.
According to the band, “White Sky” starts where an earlier track “M79” (a song about a bus) left off. Besides having uninspired subject matter, “White Sky” contains the most grating vocals on Contra, a wailing pitch between castrated whining and empty-headed wailing.
“California English” bounces around with a hyperactive melody 20 times more irritating than the Macarena. It’s some trite allegory about different regions coming together, which is a nice sentiment, except it sounds as if it’s delivered by Mickey Mouse drowning in syrup.
It isn’t until seven tracks in that Contra produces “Cousins,” an energetic tune that finally doesn’t feel forced. It starts strong with a rattling drumbeat and a funk rock guitar that drowns out Koeing’s aggravating voice.
“Diplomat’s Son” is the only other redeeming song, laden with a laidback, floaty electronic feel. Again, this track is without substance and owes more to the samples borrowed from M.I.A. and the Toots and the Maytals than to Vampire Weekend. But at least it doesn’t make the ears bleed.
If you want poppy world music, then listen to authentic poppy world music, not this unsophisticated, annoying group. For whatever reason Vampire Weekend is popular, the tropical taste Contra leaves is all fruit, no punch.
Additional photos for this story:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
