OK Go Oh No

Oh Yes!

Not to take anything away from OK Go's first album, but their debut, for all of it's sweet bubble-pop goodness, caused most people to disregard that OK Go can actually rock pretty well with the rest of them. In their follow up Oh No this can be seen very clearly right off the bat with the razor sharp tracks of "Invincible" and "Do What You Want." While it's not the same mind boggling experience of listening to Phantom Planet's The Guest and their eponymous follow up album, where you're asking yourself "Is this even the same band?" but it will raise some eyebrows for those who didn't think that OK Go would be able to get much further than making a "Get Over It" redux. The refreshing aspect of this album is that at no point does the edginess sound forced or mechanical, and that's a key point at which many other bands fail, as they are so busy trying to fit a certain characteristic that they not only fall short but they also sound supremely flat. Instead, while the incredibly flashy and polished production by Tore Johansson (who worked with Franz Ferdinand) may have something otherwise, the album is a natural progression from where they were first time around, as the songwriting is tighter and they seem to be willing to explore a little bit more. This is exemplified particularly on the the Rolling Stones-esque "A Good Idea At The Time" which even features at the horns at the end, the very nicely done ballad "Oh Lately It's So Quiet" and the dance-rock of "A Million Ways" which actually sounds a bit like Franz Ferdinand (make what you'd like of that). Rocking out this time around, OK Go has released yet another solid album, that explores and still stays true to the fun loving sound that we're all used to. In the process, OK Go has avoided the sophmore slump that many were expecting.

★★★★¼