Oh My God, Superhunk, The B-Sharps
Thursday October 1st, 2009
Oh My God
Superhunk
The B-Sharps
10PM
$5
YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS S#%T UP!
As chronicled in their Legalize Oh My God travelogue videos, Chicago’s oh my god has had more than one band’s share of bad luck and trouble since forming in ’99. Just weeks after meeting, organist ig (who’d played on stages with Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Van Morrison, Jeff Healey and Otis Rush in addition to his punk pursuits) moved his music equipment into singer Billy O’Neill’s rehearsal space. After a few practices, the building burned down. Not only did the nascent oh my god lose all their equipment, but they got sued by the building owner who alleged that their carelessness sparked the blaze. The band was exonerated (after almost 10 years of sporadic legal action); they used the prosecuting attorney’s deposition attack on the band as the poster quote on their 2005 tour of the UK:
“Oh my god…use their equipment in such a way…as to cause it to ignite and burst into flames.”
“A sound bigger than the metaphorical shoulders of its hometown. The sparse instrumentation is the band’s signature, but crooner Billy O’Neill, whose rich voice recalls Simple Minds’ Jim Kerr, gives oh my god its soul. This band would leave The Breakfast Club with a completely different ending, one that would strike fear in the hearts of ballpark organists and offer hope to melody-deprived art-rock fans everywhere.” —Kansas City Pitch Weekly (Critics’ Pick)
“Not your parents’ art rock…soulful vocals set against an experimental backdrop of organ and drums.” —Alternative Press
“Oh my god relies on organ and bass to create a sound bearing a little resemblance to a school’s Klaxon system going haywire” —Austin Chronicle (“Saturday Sleeper” pick for SXSW)
“God (would admire) the band’s musical diversity, which includes everything from melodic, radio-friendly rock songs…to robotic electro seethings….And Satan would admire OMG’s hedonistic, possessed live shows….Perhaps most impressive is the infectious pop hooks the band cranks out.” —Phoenix New Times
“High-volume rock ’n’ roll…a sound that’s equal parts hard rock, prog rock and freak rock…the group may look like a bunch of refugees from Manson’s family, but they sound more like The Partridge Family (being run over by their own bus, that is).” —ArtVoice, Buffalo, NY
