In the mid- and late 1990s, most bands that were at all humorous seemed to go too far, reducing themselves to juvenile joke-rock. Before that, however, it seemed possible to be a little wacky but sometimes serious, which is the beauty of Frank Allison and the Odd Sox. Most of the tracks on Hokey Smoke are made up of pleasant, jangly guitar-pop and They Might Be Giants-style vocals, with clever and somewhat silly lyrical work. Just often enough, though, the band puts together a serious song ("Leland Smith"), usually in the jangly, acoustic genre of Southern rock popularized by the Connels or the Judybats. This ability to be fun without going overboard makes Hokey Smoke an incredibly charming album -- immediately likable, consistently listenable, and a little wacky.
© Nitsuh Abebe /TiVo