Between the Devil & The Sea

Oh No! Oh My! | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 10, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Dim Mak Records
• ASIN: B000QUEMEE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,093 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #78 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Twee Pop

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars +1/2 -- Quirky, melodic indie pop with a helping of twee, August 21, 2007

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Between the Devil & The Sea (Audio CD)

The folk-pop of this Austin-based quartet could be likened to the works of Oh Ok or Belle and Sebastian; childlike on the surface, these five original songs are charmingly melodic and bright. The synthesizers and drum machines of their eponymous debut LP have been supplanted fully by chiming guitar-based arrangements that deftly mix acoustic and electric instruments along with studio production touches into something very effervescent. The opener builds a yearning, toe-tapping song around the Star Wars themed refrain "Obi-Wan you're my only hope" floated upon crisply picked guitar, assorted acoustic percussion and a wandering piano line. The strummed acoustic guitars of "The Party Punch" have the summery feel of ukuleles, and "The Bike, Sir" is an oddly repeating lyric of excuse making that would have been at home on Brian Wilson's "Smile." The closing "A Pirate's Anthem" is the most conventional indie-pop song here, with darker guitars, heavier drums and a brooding melody that's lightened by a falsetto chorus. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2007 hyperbolium dot com]

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Oh be one, August 6, 2007

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Between the Devil & The Sea (Audio CD)

Oh No! Oh My! catches your attention right away for one reason: their quirky name.

Just kidding. The Austin band is also attention-getting for their quirky indie-rock, and the sunshiney flavour of their folky pop music. The EP "Between the Devil and the Sea" is an enjoyably mellow listening experience, and might send you searching for their self-titled debut.

It opens with the folky "Oh Be One," a cute little swaying tune with a clever Star-Warsian word pun ("Yes you are my only hope; Oh, be one!/You're my only hope!"), and further expands with the ringing, shimmery indiepop of "Our Mouths Were Wet," which is full of odd keyboard melodies and high-pitched supporting vocals.

It follows that up with a sprightly folkpop tune, with lots of strummy guitar and handclaps, and a weird minute-long interlude full of tambourine, plinking piano, and a lot of "Sirs." It finishes on a peculiar note with "A Pirate's Anthem," a gently rippling piano-guitar melody that regularly gets swamped by fuzz and distortion.

Somehow Oh No! Oh My! (name taken from a Robot Ate Me song) doesn't really fit the folk, pop or freakfolk designations it would be easy to give them. It uses elements of all those genres, and smushes them together in a sunny, mellow little style of their own, with a few hiccups along the way.

The songs are made up of gentle piano, rattly drums, and acoustic guitar, which can be bouncy or mellow depending on the kind of song it is. Those melodies are wrapped in a thick cocoon of keyboard, which practically smothers everything else in a couple of the songs. Only the last song stumbles -- it feels like they had a quirky, distorted sound in mind, but couldn't make it quite gel.

But they do succeed with quirky vocals -- Greg Barkley provides some smooth, harmonious vocals, along with some high-pitched ones and deeper distant ones. I started wondering if he'd harmonize with himself. And the songwriting is just as joyously exuberant ("How the fields are golden/And all the flowers on her hair!/How my heart jumps through the air/just as much as our mouths were wet...").

"Between the Devil and the Sea" serves as a good introduction to Oh No! Oh My!'s quirky indieish-folkish-pop music, and the more you listen to it, the more lovable it is.