aaamusic | On 07, Mar 2011

‘People Problems’ is the brand new album from Austin-based ‘Oh No Oh My’.

The albums opens with ‘Walking Into Me’,  which is a great little introduction into ‘People Problems’ setting the tone of the album, and displaying the nice Indie Rock sound of ‘Oh No Oh My’ which is cleverly accompanied by lyrics of deeper meaning. Each of the 12 tracks on the album hold a short narrative powered by the ordinary, unusual and the extraordinary moments in life, both good and bad. ‘

Oh No Oh My’ possess a rare and beautiful talent of being able to make the most vulgar of images appear both pretty and benign, for instance in ‘Again Again’ the description and imagery of ‘reach[ing] fingers down my throat’ is made to sound so normal and gentle due to the soft Indie Rock instrumental accompaniment which shadows the lyrical narrative unless you ‘re really listening to what is being sung. This shadowed narrative is evident throughout especially startling in  ‘So I Took You’ which is about a knife wielding pervert and hopelessness of there victim, which was oddly written after a waking up in hospital after a truly awful car-accident.

Although, it is not just the obviously shocking and horrific experiences of life that are explored, for instance ‘I Don’t Know’ and ‘Not The One’ are written about the personal experiences of one of the band members after being mugged, and explores the feelings and emotions of meaningless of life because of it.

‘People Problems’ is a beautiful album, full of meaning exploring the “people problems” that affect the majority of the Western world. Lightly coated with spring/summer Indie Rock instrumentals shadowing the meaning slightly but never hiding it completely.

Author: Khadija Pandor

UK and Ireland Tour Dates

7/3       London           Brixton Windmill

8/3       Leeds              Oporto

9/3       Glasgow         TBC

10/3     Galway           Rosins Dubh

11/3     Dublin             Workman’s Club

12/3     Belfast            Auntie Annie’s