Ojee is Eric Green and Brian Campbell. As indicated by the cover of their CD Ojee Walk Upright, these gents certainly do walk in an upright fashion. At first, I thought their music was silly but upon a second take and absorbing their lyrics, I felt a little different.
Ojee sings about the good earth and philosophize on the opening track "Planted", which is about dying and being buried under a tree and then becoming nutrients for the soil. The wonders of the life cycle and how nature's role is so important to us is not something we generally think about whilst listening to a pop recording now is it?
They do a complete turnaround with a track like "Stupid Idiot", regarding paying tribute to the almighty porcelain God after an evening of foolishness. It's all in good fun and these gents do not take themselves too seriously, which is actually refreshing. They aren't bad musicians either. There is some programming on the tracks but they do play a lot of different instruments - accordion, mandolin, melodica, guitar and bass to name just a few, so the musical aptitude is there ready for further development.
I have to wonder what these blokes will sound like when they get serious about their music and decide to stop puttering around in a lighthearted way? It nevertheless worked for me and it was fun to listen to.
This CD won't find common rotation in my stereo but it was good enough to have a few spins and to actually contemplate what the possibilities could be for this music and beyond. There may be somebody out there that is paying attention to their unique sound and approach who will see the value in what they have to offer, you never know.
I can see them doing something like the soundtrack to Rugrats, as the former members of Devo (the Mothersbaugh brothers) have done so successfully. Hey, anything can happen if your CD falls into the right hands.
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