It's hard being different. like a lone crowd surfer at a Stereolab gig, you can end up standing out, but not in a good way, and attracting glances from those who stand around in po-faced judgement. And in a city where the main criteria for being deemed band-worthy is that you played bongos in the La's (once), Ooberman are different. Their sublime Shorley Wall EP saw them labelled as fey by those who prefer their pop songs sung by frontmen with guitars and lazy rhymes. But when I met them in between
soundchecks at a pre Paris-bound soundcheck The Picket, I was
unable to rouse any indignation in them . Suddenly, the hush of the teatime Picket bar is fractured by a moment of pure, almost incandescent awfulness. Some heathen, (surely not the SWP posse in the corner) has put Sixpence None The Richer's 'version' of There She Goes on the juke-box. "Sacrilege!" shout Ooberman as a collective voice. A surprising outburst from a supposedly fey band. "Fey isn't the same as insipid " says guitarist Andy reasonably. And to be fair, anyone who has seen Ooberman live will know that it isn't all shimmering fairy-dust. They do have their shoutier moments. "The first half of the new album [The Magic Treehouse, released October 25th] is more like us live" explains Danny, but then goes and breaks your heart by explaining the story behind the new single Tears from a Willow "It's about when three of us got dumped in the same week and went tripping in the woods.... knowing that you'll always have your friends around you when your world is collapsing." Singer/ keyboardist Sophia steps in: "Yes, but the album is a soundtrack for every emotion." "The first half is for when you're getting ready to go out, knowing that tonight you might find love and happiness." explains Danny, "and the second's for when you come home and you realise you're still on your own." With that, Ooberman leave
to further their campaign of providing solace to broken hearted
lasses everywhere. By Anna |
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