Fair Ohs have the best tagline this side of Snickers' “Get Some Nuts.” [Sounds like a British ad campaign.] Theirs runs “Like Paul Simon but… you know… punk.” If the music biz doesn’t work out then hopefully they move into the Mad Men world of advertising.
Their punk Paul Simon sound is pretty spot on. They indeed have all the best bits of punk and ska mixed with a dash of a sluttier Vampire Weekend. Alleviate all your stresses, sit back and stick on this mixed bag of beachy nuances.
“Hey Lizzie” is a lazy, rolling breeze with lyrics that move into one another with ease. First asking “Did you start that fire?” it moves on to the equally profound, repeated chorus “Hey Lizzie”. But this doesn’t matter because the voices merge into music, the euphoric shouts in the background breaking up the vocals.
On “Almost Island“, they twist their attention to disjointed guitars and almost-shouted vocals. Even this attempt at aggression has an air of cool indifference. They sing, “My friends are tough”, but forget to mention also high. This is a good song, with fiddly guitar bits working over unfaltering drum hits. It makes you think they must care about the process of music making – it’s just that what’s produced is a blissed out, kicked back affair.
It's surprising for a London-based band to sound so sunny and relaxed. They obviously haven’t got to ride the Tube at rush hour. Or if they do you know they're getting stoned at the back, unaware of the pink faced business men who may one day employ them in their advertising agency. They sound more like they're off to have a weekend in the South of France, getting suntanned and laid.
