One Track Mind

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In a previous life, I ran an indie-pop night in Manhattan’s East Village, and one of my longtime DJ partners was a fella named Dan. Dan was the perfect accomplice for such an endeavor, as he was just as big a music geek as I was, actively seeking out the same sort of overlooked international indie acts. Dan moved on to bigger and better things, and one of them was founding Brooklyn’s Friendly Fire Recordings, which has churned out some under-appreciated (and some thoroughly acclaimed) releases from acts including The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Faunts, Windmill, and Camphor. The label’s newest signing is Oh No Ono, a Danish outfit whose North American debut, Eggs, was released this past Tuesday.

Oh No Ono produce music that is bold, defiant, and anything but complacent. On “Internet Warrior,” the record’s third track, the band nimbly navigates the experimental pop seas, folding melodies, tempos, and rhythms into one another without ever losing grasp of the compositional big picture. Whether they are in the midst of a spacey breakdown punctuated by exotic stringed instruments or crafting musical swells with lush strings and perfect vocal harmonies, Oh No Ono always feel comfortable in their own skin, never reaching for more than they can grasp despite their ambitious acrobatics. As a result, “Internet Warrior” offers that most gratifying of listens: a song which benefits from the scrutiny of multiple listens, each pass revealing further textures and tricks, but which also features a pure enough melodic sensibility that it may be enjoyed in a more passive capacity.