OK Go

As of this writing, the best tune OK Go performs live is a They Might Be Giants cover. "Kiss Me, Son of God." Great tune. Catchy, quirky. Effortless. OK Go'll be writin' stuff that good in, say, 10 years. Described as "the new breed of Chicago rock," OK Go is aiming straight for that asexual nerd-rock demographic, fusing TMBG's giddy jingle to the hipster/slacker multi-instrumental shtick that hardly belongs to Beck anymore. Very, very, very goofy. And, as evidenced by a self-pimped five-song EP (which has landed the band a deal with Capitol), extremely energetic, mildly tuneful, tongue-in-cheek. Songs like "We Dug a Hole" and "Hello My Treacherous Friends" pull out every super-neato production trick, time signature swap, and "offbeat" instrumental cameo possible. Could be huge. Sure, the band's forays into aggro/industrial land ("The Unrequited Orchestra of Locomotion") are unlistenable, and a smattering of good lines ("Mediocre people do exceptional things all the time") doesn't generate an oeuvre iconic enough to get the kids shouting "Odelay!" But it's clever. Fresh. Excitable, if not exciting. Corny without gratuitously reveling in its corniness. Which is more than you can say, after all, for the last TMBG album.