I know my tolerance for twee has increased
dramatically this past decade, but this isn’t even that “twee” – it’s just a
load of fun, with short pinpricks of wavoid bounce, weird chord patterns and
off-beat fake harmonizing. Even the live stuff they threw on here is a blast – “Jumping”
and “Here We Go” had me imagining 100 new waver haircuts pogoing their asses
off at some sweaty college town bar. A guy we’ve both heard of, Matthew Sweet, was
the guitarist in this band – I know he had a solo career of some renown after
this; I just haven’t heard his stuff (see how easy it is for me to freeze out
musical acts for years based on wrongheaded assumptions?). OH-OK were around
from 1981 to 1984, and yes, this is their complete recordings. The early stuff
is the more happy-go-lucky; the later stuff stretches out a bit to lengths
greater than two minutes (!) and has a more melancholy feel along with gentle hooks
aplenty. Try this track “Such n Such” that I’ve posted for you here and try to
get up offa that thang whilst doing so.
Play
OH-OK, “Such n Such”