OK Go

OK Go continue along their sugary power-pop path on Oh No, but the album is seldom as much fun as it seems to think it is. Those who enjoy battering major labels will find plenty to sneer at throughout the Chicago quartet’s sophomore album: it’s overproduced, shamelessly and derivatively commercial, and favors style and attitude over substance. Almost every “woo-ooh-ooh” and “hey-hey-hey-hey!” feels contrived, and while the songs all sound highly contagious while they’re being listened to, most rapidly fade from consciousness once taken off the stereo.

And yet OK Go choose their influences well, and usually channel them well, too. They don’t get stuck on one setting, which goes even further toward keeping the band from finding their own distinct sound, but also makes for a more enjoyable listen, with falsetto jaunts like “Oh Lately It’s So Quiet” and the hippieish “Let It Rain” breaking up the rather anonymous slabs of dance-rock.

Elsewhere, though, they are hardly bearable. “It’s a Disaster” shamelessly cribs Fountains of Wayne’s smarmy call-and-response, and Damian Kulash occasionally stumbles over the European-envy landmine, as when he closes “Invincible” with what sounds like a deliberate impersonation of Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke. To get into the upper echelon, a band must find a new twist to all the retro love. Oh No is never anything less than competent, arranged precisely and sequenced well, primed and practically begging to get invited to the party. It can make your foot tap, but it won’t make your heart race. - Adam McKibbin

The anxious and modern children of indie rock and new wave, OK Go will always have something you can love. In 2002 it was a squelchy, three-minute summation of what made the Pixies great called "Get Over It." Three years later it's a savvy batch of songs that are probably too calculated for their own good -- perfectly arranged like those natty suits the quartet wears in Oh No's photos -- but too prickly with excitement to really ignore. As tense and bursting as it is hooky and efficient, "Do What You Want" sounds a lot like the Hives. But it could also be a sly and modern Escape Club. This continues with "Here It Goes Again" and "Good Idea at the Time," songs that cut too jaggedly to be opportunistic revivalism but still whir with new wave's wiggy energy. Fans of OK Go's first album will love "No Sign of Life" and the weirder "Oh Lately It's So Quiet," while "Crash the Party"'s 1000-watt tingle is more the speed of Oh No. Sometimes that speed does seem factory-set, though. "Million Ways" is where the album's calculated feel really surfaces. Its modified disco swagger and three-note guitar lead is so perfect for 21st century modern rock, so edgy and hooky all at the same time. (Keep in mind: Franz Ferdinand producer Tore Johansson also handled the boards for Oh No.) "Television, Television" too, with its trash culture referential lyrics and hyper rhythms, winks with a knowing sense. But what are you going to do? OK Go has written an album that coats its incredibly accessible nuts and bolts with an effervescent rocket sauce, and that's just the way it is. It's got that unique zing, the one that says "modern rock sensation!" on the label. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide