Oh No! Oh My! - Oh No! Oh My!

Championed by blogs and already creating quite the buzz in the realm of unsigned indie bands, Nashville-by-way-of-Austin post-popsters Oh No! Oh My! are rapidly becoming one of 2006's most revered new acts. Their self-titled, self-released debut is a testament to the aftermath of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's record label-free extravaganza last year. There are countless bands to lump together with Oh No! Oh My!: The Shins, Modest Mouse, the aforementioned Clap...Yeah, Architecture in Helsinki, The Microphones, Magnetic Fields...the list is nearly endless. They're a part of the bedroom pop phenomenon, and despite the tracks' simplicity, the melodies are brilliant and unforgettable. "Walk In the Park" seems nearly mindless at some points, a breezy recounting of spring days, and the band humorously drops in the sadistic line "nice day for a drive-by shooting" amongst the warm sentiments the rest of the track delivers. "I Have No Sister" brings all the good times resulting from handclaps, keyboards, and acoustic guitars, and once again it's difficult to decipher whether the trio take themselves seriously or if their charming exterior is a cover for something more sinister (or plain silly) toiling underneath the surface. There's something very Morrissey-esque about the chorus, a "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" feeling in the lyrics. "Reeks and Seeks" is an acoustic guitar duel, with barking vocals that immediately recall Isaac Brock; "On the Town" has a bassline that sounds straight out of the Small Faces' "Itchycoo Park," though the track is more along the lines of The Boy Least Likely To without the coloring book innocence. For much of the record, you can piece together influences or point out similarities...but who cares when it's this damn good? Yeah, it's not the most original record of all time. But that's not the point, or at least not the album's strongest--there's a spirit here that transcends criticism, a gesture at play in the songs that just makes you happy to be alive and listening to it. Rarely does a band deserve all the hype it receives, and the blogosphere is functioning more and more as a band's launching pad as the days go by. Oh No! Oh My! are in a saturated (yet thriving) genre but contain all the elements you'd want from a band of their stock--and they've already created an endearing album with a few future classics. For once, believe the hype. [www.ohnoohmy.com]