Free Energy & Hollerado @ Doug Fir

Last time I saw Free Energy, girls were stage diving at the Doug Fir during MusicfestNW. It was going to be hard to live up to that performance, but I think the band gets tighter every time I see them. They know how to work a crowd and their fans eat up feel good sing-along rockers like "Dream City" and "Bang Pop" I really cannot hear  "Hope Child" too many times.

Fellow Phillies, Hollerado  opened. They approach rock n' roll with a similar good-timing attitude, as apparent on "Do the Doot Da Doot Do" or on "Americana", with a video that gives OK GO a run for the money:

OK Go - "This Too Shall Pass" Video

This may be my favorite music video ever. It reminds me of a video Ancient Indian Wizard once gave me, called The Way Things Go, which had a similar live-action Rube Goldberg continuous motion machine, just with more fire.

OK Go - Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky (2010)

OK Go have made a house-hold name for themselves by recording high school cheer choreographed, single-shot videos that go viral seconds after posting and then are followed up by scores of impersonations and blogosphere commentary. It all started with "A Million Ways" followed up by "Here It Goes Again"  and, now, most recently, "This Too Shall Pass." Lost amidst all this YouTube hype for the general public is the fact that OK Go actually makes music in addition to those tracks featured in their widely watched, low-budget videos. It is undeniable that the aforementioned trio of songs are excellent; "This Too Shall Pass" being what I consider to be the most catchy, and lovable of all the songs off Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, but it also should be noted that with this album the OK Go have matured in their songwriting and musical diversity. OK Go's singles have been appealing from the get go, but this is perhaps the first album of theirs that I have truly enjoyed from beginning to end. Songs like the electro, fist-pump inducing, bass-thumping "White Knuckles" (below), the jerky, 'tude filled "WTF?" or the TV On The Radio-esque "Needing/Getting" all show that OK Go have decided to stop being something cliché (I know that sounds harsh, but I like when bands differentiate themselves) and to embrace a very broad spectrum that cannot be classified or, at times, even identified in one short review... although I'm not sure what to make of "Before The Earth Was Round" (Thoughts? Comments?). I wouldn't say that this album brings anything groundbreaking to the table, but it is a solid on each track and covers the gamut of styles & influences that won't leave you bored. Since you've likely already seen the new video, enjoy this one for a fresh new beat. "Back From Kathmandu" and "In The Glass" are also quite good.

White Knuckles - OK Go

OK Go - "This Too Shall Pass" (video)

If you don't know about the OK Go and their zany, low-budget, well, but simplistically choreographed dance performance videos then you either don't have or know how to use a computer or you are simply living in another universe by yourself. This video for "This Too Shall Pass," already referred to in some circles as "the marching band video," adds additional performers, a moving camera and intricate costumes, all things you would expect from your average, everyday music video, but when these guys do it, the world seems to drop everything and log-on.


Stay tuned for the impending album review.