Oh My Word! : The Bestest Album In the World Ever! (Except for the White Room by the KLF)
I have been looking forward to this local release for a long time. A decent analogy to offer Treble’s San Diego based core would be to say that I’m equivalently happy to have this from my doorstep as I would be with the Wavves album. Straight outta Intake (the same suburb of Sheffield, England as Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker), Oh My Word! have been described as combining the city’s “occasional appetite for trashing convention” with “shambolic yet well orchestrated sonic carnage.”
It’s debatable whether their material constitutes music or comedic blast cabaret. This synth-guitar duo (unless you count the iPod and ironing board on percussion) have built a devout local fan base with thematic shows (check out their wrestling and “Sheffield world tour diary” efforts online) and an arsenal of ramshackle post-punk-pop which puts substance over shine. Think Monty Python moonlighting by turns as the Residents, the London Suede and the Dead Kennedys, with a dab of the oft-cited Mighty Boosh and you’re as close as could be proximate.
It begins with a calamitous anthem. “190 MPH Shock!” turns Bernard Sumner guitar, observational wit, and the worst of nights into something inspirational. OJ asks “what possessed his body baby, like a surge of power to a dictator?” like Pete Shelley on form. “Plastic Pants” pays turbo charged tribute to second hand club wear, exhibiting an affinity for Bis, Polysics and Marion. “Win or Lose” is a life affirming race through Give `em Enough Rope era Clash and Terrorvision. Oh My Word! are also capable of being phenomenally heavy. The closing “Hike!” inflicts somewhere between Test Icicles, 2AM TV and the sound of a war time economy.
Close to selling out an initial CD-R short run at a price of 300pence, The Bestest… succeeds with a unique haphazard magic.
Similar Albums:
Pulp – Intro
Test Icicles – For Screening Purposes Only
Monty Python – Monty Python’s Flying Circus