Full of splashy cymbals and garage rock guitar riffs, OK Go’s single Do What You Want has a solid, old-school power pop feel, especially with the sleek "aaah, aaahs" in the vocals the title track. But really, there's no soul to the song, though. Damian Kulash and the rest of the band play the song by-the-numbers with no real risk or spontaneity, sounding like a group of friends who have spent a few weeks together in their basement teaching themselves to play the latest hits note-for-note. Granted, they sound like an exceedingly skilled and talented group of friends messing around together in their basement, but there's not the loose, relaxed, inventive sound of a band that’ve already put out a full album, especially one containing a song as original and enjoyable as Get Over It.
Next up to bat is “Invincible.” It's slower, harder, more aggressive, and significantly darker, with snarling attitude laced throughout the vocals and jarring, dissonant chord progressions added into the arrangement, but again, the band sounds more like they're trying to copy other successful acts rather than crafting something original of their own. The song sounds like The Strokes, or possible The Hives, or maybe The Vines or Jet or The Zutons. Now these are all bands that are enjoyable enough to listen to, but they can be awfully hard to tell apart from one another. OK Go won't stand out from the masses by making themselves yet another in a long line of interchangeable bands.
Rounding out the single is a cover of The Cure's 1983 single “The Lovecats,” and it turns out to be the most interesting moment on the disc. Layering a light, tropical, electric piano riffs over a deep bass line with a swinging swagger, “The Lovecats” sounds uncannily like an early Elvis Costello and the Attractions tune. In fact, it might even be ripping off “Watching the Detectives” a bit. Kulash's vocals have that same sleepy, breathy quality, and the same jarring flashes of guitar come slashing through the mix, but the similarities aren't nearly enough to mar an otherwise intriguing recording.
I can’t universally say that Do What You Want is a poor release. There's plenty of energy here, and the musicianship is solid. It's just that to much of the disk (the first two songs, specifically) sounds like an attempt to copy sounds that have grown tired, stale, and overused over the last two or three years. Gone is the inventive pop spark of spontaneity from their debut, and in its place is an attempt to embrace more of a serious rock edge, an attempt that feels forced and uncomfortable. Here's hoping that the rest of the songs released on Oh No stick with the looser, more irreverent pop style of the band's debut, rather than the uncertain, even bland, rock edge on display here. |