Most stars discovered on YouTube follow an all-too familiar pattern of fame that includes a quick 15 minutes in the realm of cult-like celebrity, followed by excessive exposure and a subsequent fade into the recesses of our quirky video nostalgia.
Thankfully for music devotees, OK Go’s “Here It Goes Again” treadmill video turned out to be more of a force on the cultural pyramid of YouTube notoriety than Charlie and his bitten finger will ever be able to muster.
The band’s third full-length studio album, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, showcases OK Go as sonic sculptors who have graduated from their synchronized treadmill days with a deeply dimensional sound full of bitter hope that is both uplifting and breathtakingly sad.
The album’s title comes from an 1876 book that falsely identifies sky blue light as being a curer of sickness. Although the book’s theory may be erroneous in nature, have faith; Colour has the ability to cure any start-of-second-semester ills.
On Colour, the guys of OK Go have left behind their Pixies and The Cars fixations that established them over four years ago on Oh No and have migrated to the screech-savory flash and pop akin to Prince and his “Purple Rain.”
“WTF?,” the album’s opening track, has lead singer Damian Kulash’s sexy whisper asking “I’ve been trying to get my head, oh well/ What the fuck is happening?” And so the band establishes the theme it rolls with for the entire record: heartache, hopelessness and the frustrating confusion that unfailingly follows.
Colour is mostly a hip dance mash-up of vintage inspired rock-funk, but the album also encompasses a gorgeously brimming buffet of multiple musical styles that will keep your ears and headphones hot, despite the tundra-like weather conditions.
In particular, “Last Leaf,” stripped of everything but Kulash and an acoustic guitar, unexpectedly showcases the band’s poetic groove, proving Ben Gibbard isn’t the only troubadour who can paralyze audiences with verses of endearing adoration. This is showcased with balladry like, “If you should be the last autumn leaf hanging from the tree/ I’ll still be here waiting on the breeze to bring you down to me.” Swooning yet, ladies?
Although the sound of the album is clearly influenced by multiple musical prophets like the mind-bending Flaming Lips, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and most noticeably, Prince, OK Go is able to let its own style make more of a statement than the visionaries it’s guided by.
Perhaps, David Fridmann, former Mercury Rev member and current indie-rock-producing god, has something to do with the extensive depth of sound and lyrics not seen from OK Go on Oh No.
The record is not without its hiccups, however. Some tracks, though musically diverse, are just too long and sometimes the psychedelic mix-up of beats stray from the cohesiveness of the album, burying the sincerely honest lyrics.
Just looking for a taste? Be sure to download, “This Too Shall Pass.” Keep this in your de-stressing reserves playlist and you’ll be kicking ass along with the boys chanting, “When the morning comes/ Let it go, this too shall pass.” It’s musical motivation at its finest.
Maybe OK Go has abandoned its geeky choreographed treadmill moves on Colour, but that’s okay because it has succeeded in doing what the sneezing baby panda probably never will — its music has stayed in our heads long after their video ended, and it sounds amazing.
4 stars out of 5.
