Thank you to the OK Go PGO for the opportunity to hear and review this album in advance

What a Good, Good Day at Last

In the landscape of “alternative music,” few artists come to mind as strongly as OK Go. The Chicagoan band, formed in 1998, has a discography of four (now five) albums, ranging from grungy rock vibes to digital, industrial sound, and so far, most things they try are a roaring success. The secret to their process is patience, not only in their music videos – which tend to go viral and always aim to set some unique world record – but also in the way they release new tunes. The most humbling test of patience one could experience was being an OK Go fan for the last decade, as the band has given us a mere handful of new tracks over a debilitating 10-year span.

I’ve been a fairweather fan of OK Go since their second album, having witnessed the famed “Treadmill Dance” video when it first helped shape the internet. However, I did not become a true OK Go stan until 2014’s Hungry Ghosts caught my eye, albeit a few years into the break period. I was fortunate enough to catch their Live Video Tour in 2018, and just as I had listened to everything on offer, it felt like the band slipped away into the ether. We got a brief taste of new music during the pandemic, when they released “All Together Now,” a lockdown anthem I enjoyed more than any other band’s at the time. Now at last, 11 years after the release of Hungry Ghosts, the elusive band has returned to grace us with OK Go and the Adjacent Possible. This new album serves as a decent return to the sound they’re known for, but also feels inspired by music legends of old, helping OK Go feel fresh once more.

Credit: Jam Productions

The album – which I will lovingly refer to as the Adjacent Possible – kicks off with one of the aforementioned industrial bangers, titled “Impulse Purchase.” It rips out the gate so hard, I kind of forgot how much I’d missed OK Go! While it’s the shortest song on the album, it sets the stage well for the display of high’s and low’s we’re about to experience. Going in, I wondered if the Adjacent Possible would be some sort of concept album. Stylizing itself as if the band is going on a journey a la the Magical Mystery Tour, I figured each song may tell a story, but alas, much of this album covers the standard OK Go fare: love songs and existential, dystopian fever dreams.

I mentioned the “high’s and low’s,” but I don’t necessarily mean that in terms of quality, more in regard to the energy OK Go brings. “Impulse Purchase” obviously starts us on a high note, and for the first few tracks, we continue on this trend. “A Stone Only Rolls Downhill” was the second single from the Adjacent Possible, accompanied by another unique music video from the lads, filmed across 64 videos on 64 iPhones. The second music video debuted today, showcasing the third track, “Love.” Both of these songs, though vastly different in subject matter, express the “alternative” vibe I’d previously mentioned, that OK Go does so well. Something about their tone and the style of groove they emit is so satisfying no matter how hard or soft the structure of a song may be. Even now as I write this, the album is playing in the background and it’s just such a calming ambient noise. The Adjacent Possible succeeds in achieving the standard sound of OK Go’s branding.

Credit: OK Go

Entering the second quarter of the album, OK Go swerves into that more somber territory. “A Good, Good Day at Last” feels sort of punk-ish, as if Sublime or The Black Keys offered up a marching beat and a funky Lenny Kravitz solo. It’s just a damn fun song that no doubt will grace an iPhone commercial in the near future. As for the next two tracks, “Fantasy vs. Fantasy” and “This It How It Ends,” illustrate a much quieter scene, but once again they feel heavily influenced by other artists, and they succeed with flying colors. The former is a ballroom-infused ballad that wouldn’t feel out of place on an Elvis album. The latter reminded me – in one of the wildest takes you’ll hear today – of Hamilton’s “Burn,” not only in the way it’s sung but also the instrumental track that accompanies it.

Fortunately, once you’ve cried your way through these softer tunes, you’ll be greeted by the Adjacent Possible’s strongest song, “Take Me With You.” Instantly feeling like a David Bowie classic, it’s a catchy, dancefloor bop with vocals that feel reminiscent of hits like “Let’s Dance” and “Fame.” I’ve already found myself returning to this one and showing it off to others; a music video is sure to follow suit. I was rather shocked when I arrived at the eighth track, as it felt familiar yet different in the most subtle of ways. Back in 2023, OK Go surprised fans with the release of “This,” which was written for a film co-directed by the band’s lead singer and his wife. I’ve been bumping “This” ever since, but this version – pun intended – feels just tweaked enough that it delivered a brand-new experience! I appreciated the clearer vocals and overall bass-quieting, but I will say I missed the backing vocals of the original. Hey, it’s hard to reinvent perfection.

Credit: NME

The weakest songs on offer come in the final third of the Adjacent Possible, beginning with “Golden Devils,” which is so long and draggy that it’s hard to nail down a cohesive vibe. Its lyrics don’t particularly resonate, and I just found myself trudging through it. Alongside this, “Going Home” feels like a missed opportunity, prematurely bringing things to a close. Having the back portion of an album packed with mostly somber tunes can leave one with a bad taste in their ears, especially after having started so strong. These songs left me feeling a bit conflicted about the package as a whole, and I found myself longing for the experimental days of old, or even of the Adjacent Possible’s initial few tracks. Perhaps these songs will come around to me in time; I find myself thinking back on the Fitz and the Tantrums album All the Feels, in which its slower songs felt out of place but on their own, over time, became favorites in their own ways. I wish this for OK Go and the Adjacent Possible, as it’s not like the band can’t make some excellent slow songs (looking at you, “Last Leaf”).

As you can see, I skipped over “Once More with Feeling” and have yet to mention the final track, “Don’t Give Up Now,” which was on purpose as I think these two tracks perfectly bring this album to its conclusion. I honestly feel like they should have swapped some tracks around, leaving these two as the final two on the album. “Once More with Feeling” serves as the final hype song, with yet another dance beat and lyrics that suggest, “let’s do it all over again!” Finally, we come to “Don’t Give Up Now,” which resonates much harder in this current state of the world than it ever could have before. I appreciate the mellow arrangement of this song, and having an instrumental outro really contrasts with the Adjacent Possible’s opening energy. This song doesn’t pick up much, and that’s okay, as it ramps the whole album downward – on its way out – and it doesn’t bring the tone to an abrupt stop like some of the middle songs do.

Credit: Kevin Maney

OK Go and the Adjacent Possible will most likely stay spinning on my record player for some time. The album as a whole slightly struggles to develop a cohesive through line, but overall, it’s a collection of mostly memorable new tunes from a band that’s been dormant for far too long. While earlier albums like Oh No may have shown off their heavier rock prowess, and the more experimental ones like Hungry Ghosts and Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky established OK Go as the unorthodox, creative musicians we’ve come to expect, the band plays it a bit safer this time around. OK Go and the Adjacent Possible didn’t feel exactly revolutionary, but it succeeds in delivering a product worth waiting a decade for.

Final Score: