The Austin foursome first made a splash (as Oh No! Oh My! – they’ve recently dropped the exclamation marks) in 2006 with their self-released, self-titled LP, and then brought out some older tracks for Dim Mak’s Between the Devil and the Sea EP (QRO review) last year. Now, with some touring under their belt, they’re back at the self-releasing game with Dmitrij Dmitrij EP.
The multi-instrumentalist alt-rock ensemble has tended towards the higher, sharper fare, but they have always leavened that with other elements, and that’s even more the case on Dmitrij. Opener “Wham Bam Thank You Spaceman” is certainly different, as it goes rockin’ with a pressing guitar attack. Finisher “I Painted Your House” goes the other direction, big and echoing, sustaining its touch with strings and synths.
In between, Dmitrij is more ‘traditional’ Oh No Oh My, but still manages to mix it up. “The Boy With an Anchor” is the most like their earlier material, poppy, peppy, and catchy, but “Be a Star” manages to include cheesy-but-winning synths and bombast rock choruses. Only the strings-based “Go To Work” really slips, a little boring in its sweep.
Just about to head off to Western Europe, Oh No Oh My did title Dmitrij Dmitrij EP something more suited for the Eastern Bloc. But even as they’ve lost their !’s, they’ve kept up the spirit behind those exclamations.
