Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times

FURTHERMORE WHAT, the debut from Oh-Ok, the latest band out of Athens. Ga., comes on like a decadent kiddies album, blending childlike innocence with childish perversity to set a tone that is, simultaneously harming and unsettling. The nursery-rhyme lyrics and the bright melodies on this six-song EP barely mask the obsessive, morbidity lurking beneath. In fact, the darker meanings are so tightly woven into the airy structure of the music that it becomes impossible to separate the perversity from the innocence.

Like the old nursery rhyme. "Ring Around the Rosies"--with its hidden suggestions of the bubonic plague--these songs translate the horrors of the adult world into children's language. The death, madness, and devil rituals on this EP may be common but Oh-Ok's handling of them in childish terms is quite original, something along the lines of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit", which turned an acid trip into an Alice-in-Wonderland fairy tale.

Oh-Ok pattern their lyrics, both in language and imagery, on the speech used in most children's books. The songs usually consist of simple repetitions, or parallel sentence structures; and the phrasing of such lines as "What say you to me good woman?" suggests the formal, slightly archaic tone of a fairy tale. And phrases like "valley of the painted horse", and a character named "Rapture" come right out of the fantasy worlds created for and by children. Oh-Ok's lyrics may be simple, but they are certainly not straightforward. Rather, they prefer to make their songs fragmented and oblique, hiding meaning not beneath lucid narrative, but in seemingly nonsensical childish ramblings.

The opening song, "Such 'n' Such," starts as simple narrative and then the lyrics circle back on themselves to become pure babble, "such 'n' such really not much." As the lyrics take a turn from reality, unearthly backing harmonies begin to intrude upon the simple, bright melody. A charming ditty has turned into a haunting foreshadowing of madness.

NONE of the other songs on this EP really match "Such 'n' Such" for the subtle way in which a nightmare casts a long shadow over playful innocence. Nevertheless, Oh-Ok does succeed in balancing the eerie, depressive tone of such songs as "Choukoutien" and "Elaine's Song" against the quiet, lightweight charm of numbers like "Straight" of "Giddy Up." And throughout the album, Oh-Ok manage to sustain a surreal, dreamlike atmosphere, without resorting to complicated, labored sound effects that would undermine this EP's simple, uncluttered quality.

This success is due chiefly to the rich, seductive vocals of Linda Hopper and Lynda Stipe. Whether they are reciting rhymes like "One-two buckle my shoes" in flat monotone, or creating beautiful, dark harmonies in "Choukoutien" and "Elaine's Song", Hopper and Stipe manage to embrace both the earthy and unearthly, without sounding arch or immature.

Credit should also go to guitarist David Mcnair for his clear, ringing guitar playing (reminiscent of Peter Buck's guitar work for REM) and Stipe's prominent, graceful bass lines. Together, with Matthew Sweet's astute drumming, Stipe and Mcnair create a spare but rollicking sound that perfectly compliments the deceivingly playful tone of this EP.

INEVITABLY, Oh-Ok is going to be compared with their fellow Athens Ga, band, REM, especially since Linda Stipe is the sister of Michael, lead singer for REM. And, in fact, Oh-Ok and REM do have many common elements: guitar sounds, vague lyrics, and dream-like atmospheres. Fortunately, however. Oh-Ok does not try to match REM for lyrical ambiguity. Although Hopper and Stipe do create deceptive verbal tricks, they do not slur and clip their vocals to the extent that Michael Stipe does. REM presents the listener with an insoluable puzzle; with each new listening one continually hears new words and new meanings. Oh-Ok, however, repays closer listening with a better understanding. So, in "Such 'n' Such," what may at first sound like "You are really neat," eventually becomes "Do I really need this?"; and this fits in with the song's theme of growing insanity.

The only real flaw with this album is that some of the songs are a bit narrow and unformed. The horror of "Elaine's Song" or the obsessive depression of "Choukoutien" would be more effective if the songs were filled out. Of course, this complaint could just be a backhand way of saying I like their music so much that I wish there were more of it.