YES

"Yes" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish art pop/rock act Oh No Ono. The album was released through Morningside Records in August 2006 and was produced by Oh No Ono & Jesper Mortensen. The band released the "Now You Know Oh No Ono" EP in 2005 and received a great deal of recognition from the Danish music press for that release. Two of the songs from the EP ( "Ba Ba BaBa Ba Ba Well Anyway" and "Am I Right?") have made it unto "Yes" in re-recorded versions.

The music on "Yes" is hard to describe but my attempt will be something like this: "Art pop/rock with a distinct high pitched lead vocalist". The influences are obviously many as I can hear both 70s and especially loads of 80s influences in the music. Funk, New Wave and pop music mixed together to form a rather original sound. "Yes" is at times even semi-progressive. The band play with song structures and experiment with sounds and time signatures, but the music is still predominantly vers/chorus structured. The album starts with the beautiful and almost symphonic prog like instrumental track "The Strawberry Festival" but most of the tracks on the album feature a wild energy and it´s almost impossible to sit still while listening. Just take a listen to tracks like "The Shock Of The Real", "Keeping Warm In Cold Country", "Practical Money Skills For Life" or "Ba Ba BaBa Ba Ba Well Anyway". All high energy party art pop/rock songs. There is one complaint about the album though and that´s the quality of the material seems to decrease the longer you get into the album and the last couple of tracks are not up to par with the excellent first half of the album. They´re not bad but it´s a bit of a shame really as the album´s playing time is only 36:52 minutes and it does affect my rating that the quality isn´t equally as high all the way through.

The musicianship is excellent. We´re talking really skilled musicians and a unique vocalist. The production is professional and powerful. "Yes" is just short of a 4 star (80%) rating because of the flaws mentioned above but when Oh No Ono shine they shine brightly. This is a great debut album from a very promising young act and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved. If you enjoy music with lots of energy and fun this album certainly applies.