After saddling themselves with an all-time clunker of a band name -- it stands for "the One and Only Typicals," but everyone will most likely simply call them "the Oats" -- L.A.-based duo
the O.A.O.T.'s name-check
the Clash within the first 60 seconds of the opening track, which is a love song to a hooker just like
the Police's "Roxanne." Matt Garappolo and Eddie Garcia Garza clearly have a ton of late-'70s U.K. punk and power pop songs on their iPods (other obvious points of comparison include
the Jam, the Records, and Bram Tchaikovsky), and these 13 brief, minimalist punk-pop tunes are impressively, enthusiastically speedy. Unfortunately, like far too many bands mining the past for inspiration, the duo don't seem to have anything interesting to do with their influences. As lyrically vapid as the Knack and not melodically savvy enough to come up with many genuinely catchy riffs or choruses,
the O.A.O.T.'s are superficially appealing, but the more one pays attention to
Typical, the less enjoyable it is. ~ Stewart Mason