Skalitzer Straße 85-86, Berlin Kreuzberg
Genre: Avantgarde Pop
ooi (pron.: owiː ) is a trio whose intriguing avant-pop stands out despite — or perhaps even because of — their never having met in person. After a chance online encounter in 2016, Tokyo-based US expat Nicolai Zettl (vocals) teamed up with German drummer Flo König and Dodo Dal Bosco (keys) from Luca, Italy; soon exchanging recordings and skyping on a daily basis. Devoid of shared “real life” experiences, the trio relied on their imagination as a primary source of inspiration, thereby creating an entire cosmos complete with its own surreal characters and psychedelic narratives embedded within a mature and flamboyant sound.
A prime example of this cosmos is the debut single Sharks, a radically unconventional summer pop hit that brings to mind a coked-up cabriolet cruise down a Thomas Pynchonesque boulevard lined with offbeat characters and hallucinatory palm trees. Its sonic journey leads you through an array of catchy pop hooks straight into a kind of macho-fairytale-rap. The equally bizarre lyrics recount the story of a narrator who, after a long winter’s wait, has finally come back to Rita, his beloved pet albino alligator who has a weakness for sweets, coke, as well as anything snakeskin.
While Sharks gives us a first taste of what we might be able to expect from this outlandish internet collaboration, 2018 will see the group releasing further singles, giving their debut album Blind Love its finishing touch, and meeting IRL for the first time to perform a selection of live shows in Europe and Japan with additional musicians.