CASEY PHILLIPS: If there's one band that embodies the sound, spirit, dance moves and fashion sense of the label "Indie pop," it's Chicago-based OK Go. The band became synonymous with the term after their inspired treadmill choreography turned the video for their song "Here It Goes Again" into a super viral Internet phenomenon.
"Of the Blue Colour of the Sky," the band's third album, retains the off-kilter intellectualism they're known for, but for those, like myself, who expected to hear another radio-friendly pop/rock hookfest a la their first two albums, "Blue Colour's" detours too frequently from a winning formula.
BARRY COURTER: I confess to having been hooked by "Here It Goes Again." I loved the cleverness of the video and after a couple of viewings realized I liked the song as well. "Blue Colour" has some really cool moments and some inspired melodies and the group manages to once again offer some surprises.
CASEY: Some songs like "This Too Shall Pass," and (perhaps especially) "White Knuckles" fulfilled my expectations. Others were surprisingly sedate ("While You Were Asleep") or gloomy ("In The Glass"). None of the tracks were poorly executed by any means, but they didn't feel like they belonged on an album by a band known for its danceable pop.
BARRY: It felt at times to me a bit like a demo tape, not because of lack of polish but because of the diversity. In some ways they are to be credited for pushing things, but it can be confusing.
CASEY: OK Go wears its influences on the inside of its album sleeve. What at first appears to be an indecipherable collection of pop/geometric art in the liner notes is in fact a collection of (still indecipherable) graphs comparing various facets of the album to its source material, a pseudo-scientific book from the 1860s called "The Influence of the Blue Ray of Sunlight and of the Blue Color of the Sky." If that doesn't sound like a likely inspiration for a catchy pop album, that's because it isn't, or at least the connection between the two is so tenuous I couldn't make it out. Then again, that may not be such a bad thing.
BARRY: Yeah, I didn't get that either and honestly don't care to invest much time into figuring it out. The songs should stand on their own. What I like about them is the blend of nerd rock, pop, funk, techno and dance. Plus they use real drums.
CASEY: It's tough to criticize a band for taking itself out on a limb and trying to escape being pigeon holed, but like the questionable ideas of its inspiration, "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky" is one experiment that I found only partially successful.
BARRY: I agree. I like a good bit of it and will listen to it again. I especially like them when they try to outfunk Prince. It's funny and cool at the same time for me.