It would be a big mistake to name your band OK Cool, if it weren’t cool at all. Thankfully, this Chicago-based duo (Bridget Stiebris and Haley Blomquist) tick all the right boxes.

Sprung from pandemic boredom, they began writing and recording demos in the Spring of 2020. That June, they released their first EP Anomia. Their sophomore EP Surrealist followed in March 2021, to much fanfare. OK Cool’s music is energetic and uplifting, lo-fi and indie, catchy and punky. Up-tempo dreampop, so to say, or fresh-sounding shoegaze, if you want.

The duo’s new single Time And A Half once again features twangy guitar riffs, and captivating vocal melodies and harmonies. Not wasting any time on an intro, the track kicks in immediately. It doesn’t slow down until the final note which, alas, already follows one and a half minute later. The kind of song the repeat button was invented for.

Time And A Half is described by the band as a reaction to the twisted sense of time caused by the ongoing pandemic. “Everything we used to mark the passing of time has disappeared. It’s about grappling with your changing sense of what you knew and thinking… maybe none of that mattered anyway.“

This new single is half of a couple of songs. Together with the upcoming tune Self-Sow (out on 4 February) it’ll form OK Cool’s 2-track single Songs From The Spare Room.

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Werner Schlosser

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.