OK Go - Indie Boys Don't Dance

The new OK Go album, "Oh No," has been out for a few weeks now. Probably listened to the whole thing about 3 times, maybe 4. In that time, the music has burrowed in like one of those ear parasites from Star Trek II, and now has full control of my mind, though its only command to me so far has been to "put the CD back in the player!"

By now you've probably seen the infamous dance video. If not, I highly recommend it. I've heard several theories about why it's so popular. One pointed to the inherent comedy of seeing men do choreographed dance. And certainly, the routine itself mixes cheerleader flair, ballroom twirls, Michael Jackson struts, and recognizable bad dance moves in an amusing way. But I have some more theories:

1. Though created by the band itself, they have skillfully produced it to appear like a fan-made viral video. The resolution is poor, the setting casual. The dance is choreographed to a CD played off-screen (we hear the end of the previous song as they take their places), rather than overlaid with a studio mix. The "singer" in the video is not the lead singer in the band. There are no cuts away, and minor dance missteps and misalignments have been left in. All of these contribute to a perception of the video as not an abstract visual representation of the song, like most music videos, but something like an artifact. In watching the video, we feel we've discovered something. The dance feels like a discreet moment in time, it has that aura of authenticity. And because it feels more real, it triggers those voyeuristic endorphins.

2. We expect pop groups to have dance routines. All the boy bands do it. All the soloists do it, even when they're no good at it (Jessica Simpson). Indie-pop bands, however, don't. Not one (until now). Why? Because they're different. How? Because they don't dance. The video throws our musical categories back in our faces. Like most rock n' roll, it's all a semiotics of style over substance. Sullen, ironic boys make indie music. Cheery, sincere boys make pop music. The video pleases by confusing those boundaries.