The Oohlas - Best Stop Pop

I'm listening to the debut release by The Oohlas. Female-fronted indie-pop is turning into a bit of a recurring theme here on INTBIHITF dot blogspot dot com. but I'm a sucker for it everytime. The vocals are actually shared by Olivia Stone and Mark Eklund. Upon doing a bit of research about this band, I was shocked to discover the Everclear connection. I'm not going to get into my thoughts on Everclear (this is a review, not a rant) but The Oohlas are NOTHING like Everclear. The album boasts a very refreshing sound, that touches a little bit on 90's alternative rock, but with less angst and more sugary-sweetness.

The hooks are there, most notably in 'Small Parts', where Olivia's voice has a tweeness that is compelling without being too gosh-darn cute. Album opener "Gone" has the fuzz-guitar thing going on, and Mark Eklund slides into his role of vocalist with the greatest of ease (he was the drummer in Everclear.) In the song, "Tripped", Ollie's voice reminds me of one of my local heroes Andrea Wasse of The Weekend. The lyric "When will you return, wayward foolish friend" really drives home the feeling of being attached and repelled by someone at the same time. And "Octopus" reminds me of Veruca Salt, with enough cool wordplay and power chords to keep all the jangle-heads jumping. Finally, "Snow Shoes" is filled with tons of biting sarcasm but wrapped so nicely in huge layers of jingle-jangle that most people won't even recognise this commentary on "the rejected" and "plastic" who "look real good now" but "want to be hated!"
Ooh-la indeed!

Download: Small Parts mp3
Visit The Oohlas myspace page.
Purchase "Best Stop Pop" here.