Search - Okay :: Low Road

Excellent

alexander laurence | Los Angeles, CA | 04/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was listening to a lot of new CDs from all different sources. I had an open mind. This is one that stood out after hearing a few songs. That was before I started to read about whom actually did this record. Okay is the band name for Marty Anderson. Like Xiu Xiu and Bright Eyes he likes the band moniker. He lives in Fremont, which is, as most people in the Bay Area know, one of the Bart Stations in the East Bay. I was there this past summer. It is a suburban Northern Californian town, not unlike San Jose or Petaluma. Fremont is very close to Silicon Valley. Anderson's voice sounds a little like Marc Bolan, if he Bolan was a sad crooner. Anderson has Crohn's Disease and is bed-ridden. This release is a double disc. Many of the songs have one-word titles. On the first disc, Low Road, we have "Holy War," "Bloody," and "Devil." This first part spirals down into the dark. On the second disc songs like "Have" and "Hungry" are more upbeat. Anderson is unable to tour. But later in the year he may be playing some shows with members of Deerhoof and Pinback as his backing group. This might be interesting."