The Wheel Theory, the debut album by Ophur begins with the silky smooth assertion that "I'm going to make sweet love to you all night long / yeah cause I know what turns you on." What follows is an "I'm just a love machine"-cum-Gus Gus's "Polydistortion" mix of discoish funk. What follows that is nothing of the same. It's an eclectic pop-rock mix that undoubtedly draws from a variety of musical influences. Every song worthy of a different "wow, they sound like" handle. From the U2-like "Reality" to the electronica-tinged "Whispers," Ophur mixes it up, and does it well. It's too easy for a band to fall into an imitation trap, sacrificing an identity for a mirroring of established greatness. Ophur somehow escaped this (and others recognize it too; the band opened for Veruca Salt on August 17).
It's hard to find a bottom line with Ophur, other than to say that its sound is a solid mix, intelligent yet fun, catchy yet haunting.
Ophur consisted of: Byrn Martin (guitar), Benson Krause (vocals), Nick Palazzo (percussion), Bryan Walker (bass) and Cheston Bogue(keyboards). Ophur split up in 2003.
For more information, visit their website: http://www.ophur.com
Got a correction? Click
Here
