Video darlings OK Go sound just fine
Yes, the L.A.-based power-pop-rock quartet OK Go remain best-known for their ingenious video work. No surprise. Their clever, no-edit backyard dance performance of their 2005 single "A Million Ways" became a YouTube fave. And their subsequent video for "Here It Goes Again" - a choreographed treadmill-riding routine - became a viral zeitgeist signifier that has racked up more than 50 million views, not to mention a 2007 Grammy for best short-form music video.
Yes, the L.A.-based power-pop-rock quartet OK Go remain best-known for their ingenious video work.
No surprise. Their clever, no-edit backyard dance performance of their 2005 single "A Million Ways" became a YouTube fave. And their subsequent video for "Here It Goes Again" - a choreographed treadmill-riding routine - became a viral zeitgeist signifier that has racked up more than 50 million views, not to mention a 2007 Grammy for best short-form music video.
Their latest tour-de-force video - the Rube Goldberg-machine-driven "This Too Shall Pass," off their new album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky - has already passed the 12 million mark on YouTube.
So why that infectious spirit hasn't translated into robust crowds is a mystery. Before a thin TLA crowd on Monday night, OK Go proved that their video songs can please purely as catchy tunes played enthusiastically. In fact, the same went for their entire 19-song show, including a vigorous cover of the Pixies' "Debaser." The repeated fusillades of confetti were welcome fun, as was the hand-bell-only reading of "What to Do," and the encore's electric-light suits and laser-shooting instruments.
Their anthemic version of "This Too Shall Pass" was climactic enough without much technological enhancement, as vocalist-guitarist Damian Kulash put across hooks in supple high voice and enlisted a crowd sing-along.
Earlier, the ascendant Brooklyn power trio Earl Greyhound proved the kind of explosive band that keeps a headliner on its toes. Their swaggering blues-rock carries an inherent threat to blow anybody else offstage. The sizzling guitarist Matt Whyte was joined on vocals by bassist Kamara Thomas on blazers like "Oye Vaya" off Suspicious Package, released last month. Earl's scheduled local return - July 18, at the XPoNential Music Festival - is a date to keep well in mind.
Taking a power-pop trip back to the '60s, mod-ish Atlanta outfit the Booze were first up. Supporting their new Rebirth of the Cool album, the Georgians had a brazenly retro-rock aesthetic - their new tune "No Big Thing" is straight-up early Rolling Stones-ish - which, in the end, of course, meant and means far less than the fact that they rocked with conviction.