Oh No Ono
Eggs
Album · Indie Rock · 2009
Brooklyn’s Friendly Fire Recordings is an eccentric place, a world where Denmark’s quirky Oh No Ono fit in perfectly. Sounding something like a sleepless studio marathon featuring the Beatles and Of Montreal, with guest appearances by Sigur Rós when things get too cute, Eggs follows their 2006 debut album Yes with a more experimental and ambitious sound. Still working in a palette of kaleidoscope colors, and with vocals that run the gamut from Munchkin impressions to youthful choruses and atonal cooing, Eggs is not quite as giddy and frothy (nor as ‘80s-inspired) as Yes. The psychedelic and ornate “Eleanor Speaks” and the spiritual “Wave Ballet” are arresting and engrossing in a magical way. The band — now a quintet — still kick up their heels, although they also thumb their noses at pop convention; the glorious “Internet Warrior” is layered with muted bird calls and swirling guitars and pianos, while “Helplessly Young” conjures the Beach Boys run through an electroclash filter. “Pop music is like a dream,” singer Malthe Fischer once told an interviewer. Clearly, that particular wisdom informs Oh No Ono’s unique musical perspective.