Quick 'N Dirty Review: OK Go | Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky

Before we start, here's a quick look at the rating system that we use here at The Dirtywhirl:

100 - Classic Album; One Of The Best Of All Time
99-90 - Exceptional Work; Rush Out And Get This
89-80 - Very, Very Good; You Should Still Go Out And Get This
79-70 - Not Bad At All; Might Actually Be Worth Your Time
69-60 - Has Its Moments But On The Whole... Meh
59-50 - Won't Make Your Ears Bleed; Won't Make You Dance, Either
49-0 - Don't Waste Your Time; You're Smarter Than This (Probably)

Now... onto the review:

OK Go | Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky


I'm a Philadelphia 76ers fan -- as much as one can be these days anyway -- and their biggest problem over the last five years or so (beyond albatross contracts and a lack of developing talent) has been their inability to establish an identity. Do they want to be a high-scoring, fast breaking offensive squad or a shutdown defensive machine content to grind out wins? Unfortunately for their fanbase, they're still deciding. A similar problem plagues OK Go on their third release, Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky. Are they the 80s revivalists of "End Love" or the gentle acoustic act of "Last Leaf"? The disco, four on the floor band of "White Knuckles" or their Oh No-era incarnation on "This Too Shall Pass" (whose video is a barely disguised attempt to recapture the viral success of Oh No's treadmill-laden clip for "Here It Goes Again")? The dilemma here is that OK Go has not distinguished any discernible identity three records in, which is a point where most bands have defined where they want to go with their sound. Without a doubt Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky is the most richly produced album of their career, thanks in large part to the choice of David Fridmann (Flaming Lips, MGMT, Thursday) as producer, but OK Go's ambition is miles ahead of their execution. The choice of "WTF" (which, as we know from Phil on Modern Family, clearly stands for "Why the face?") as lead single demonstrates this. There are probably 87 different things going on during the three minutes and 25 seconds of the track, with only about a sixth of them being any good. It was also purportedly inspired by Prince and, if this is the case, OK Go has clearly been listening to late period Prince. The matt pond PA-esque "Last Leaf" and "This Too Shall Pass" are honestly some of the best work the band has done to date, but there are too many tracks like "Needing/Getting" and "Before The Earth Was Round" that fall completely flat, making the record much too inconsistent. Cute but schizophrenic is the best way to describe Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky and, clearly, cute can't be what OK Go could or should be aiming for.


Dirty Rating: 59/100


Video:
OK Go, "This Too Shall Pass"