Okay - Low Road / High Road

The back cover of the promo for Low Road / High Road says "Like nothing you've ever heard. Quite." Which is a pretty ballsy statement to make a debut double disc. Turns out, Okay sounds like lots of stuff you've heard but only vaguely - little touches here and there will remind you of something else you appreciate, but you'd never thought to have it presented to you in this way. Though Low Road and High Road are to be considered seperate albums, they certainly consist of two equal halves of a whole. Without the darker material of Low Road, the positive outlook of High Road would certainly seem more bleak. Musically, they cover similar ground but with enough variances and commendable use of inspired instrumentation that you can tell the man responsible, Marty Anderson, was in a different state of mind when approaching them. Nailing down the specific sound of Okay is not as easy of a task as slapping a genre on it and calling it a day. Parts of both discs sound like folk music being made 2099 - guitars, drums, introspective, but intertwined with subtle touches of electronic elements, keyboards, kuzoo's, and anything else that may have been lying around the studio. Other parts sound like quality indie pop but never sounding quite like anything else you've heard. The vocal quality of Marty Anderson is often on par with a male version of Joanna Newsom or a more afflicted Sparklehorse. Touches of The Shins glimpse through at times, and the spirit of Goldcard could easily be evoked here. The list goes on and on with tiny nuances you could attribute to some other band you may enjoy, but that's all they are here - subtle nuances. Okay has created a double disc of quality songs that sound like nothing you've ever heard. Quite. [www.absolutelykosher.com]