Oh, hello! This is a live review of The Oh Hellos. Great
intro, me.
http://music.theohhellos.com/
Grow
At maximum volume I can’t hear this nice singing and
strumming over the loud talking next to me. That stinks. Let me jam my earbuds
in deeper. // Done. That’s a little better. OK, so this sounds like a
female-led version of the Strumbellas copying the Lumineers. You know what? I’m
mostly OK with this kind of copying. This has a little bit of Riverdance
happening in the background though which is not so great. And a really terrible
electric guitar something in there too. But the chorus of voices is definitely
my thing, especially since I may never get a good Polyphonic Spree album again.
The Riverdance stuff gets a little out of hand toward the end.
O Sleeper
That was an abrupt transition. This has wobbling flute and
guitar and quiet stuff like I should wake up now. Maybe this will be my new
alarm sound. Oh hey…male vocalist this time. Old timey, too. He’s kind of doing
an Ian Anderson thing without the unique edge. This one isn’t Riverdance but it’s
close. There’s something darkly 90s and new age hiding in the shadows of this
album so far. Hey, how come the band name is “Oh” but this song is “O”? The
answer must be MARKETING.
Dry Branches
Dumb filler. Burn it like dry bran- oh. I mean O.
Eurus
I can get behind this. Actually, I should probably stand
next to this, put my arm around this’s shoulder, and start kicking my feet out
in time to the music. I don’t know if this band is actually Irish or not but I
sure hope so because if they’re not this is way pretentious. Nope, American.
They said “kin” like they meant it. Even though it’s on the edge of
insufferable this song hasn’t quite gone over and I’d totally play a game while
this was on in the background. Maybe not listen to it directly again though. They
sound a lot like a local cover band that’s excited to finally play the matinee
set at the state fair.
A Convocation of
Fauns
So apparently the last minute of Eurus was actually this
song. I don’t think there was any transition at all.
Hieroglyphs
JAM BAND! I actually really like when albums flow from song
to song so I can’t complain too much but the endless mega-riverdance might be a
little bit overkill. I can’t tell this song from the last two (one-plus?) at
all. And the trailer park drumming is really starting to get to me. This would
have been an excellent point in the album for a song that was…anything
different from what the first five were.
Passerine
Back to the woman who sang the first song to close this
thing out. I wonder if this would be more my thing if the drummer and electric
guitarist got kicked out. Probably only a little more. Because you know what
this album did? Made me want a new Saintseneca album since they take folk
traditions and do something really special with them. I can’t get past the
cover band feeling with the The Oh Hellos.
Final Rating
Four elephant ears
out of 10. 10 might seem excessive but once you get past six you’ve crossed
a threshold and every one only gets better after that. Not so with the children
of Michael Flatley. Who I’m pretty sure is the Riverdance guy. LORD OF THE
DANCE!
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