An anomaly in the catalog! The long lost Oingo Boingo album! The missing link between the distinctive periods of early and late Oingo Boingo! Yoingo hoingo roingo toingo! Please let me die.

So-Lo is officially billed as a solo Danny Elfman output, but for every intent and purpose it is entirely recognized as a a full-fledged Oingo Boingo album. Hell, the irony here is that they actually added personnel: the inclusion of Paul Fox on synthesizers brings the head count up to nine. So-Lo was released under Elfman’s name instead of the band’s name due to record label disputes, but it’s apparent that Elfman was aware of this dispute well before production because it is cited that he used this as an opportunity to depart stylistically from previous efforts and experiment with a different sound. Less emphasis on ska, more emphasis on synths, toning down the wild and erratic mania a notch, and slowing down the tempos. This is in unabashedly a synthpop album from 1984 so it is hilariously dated, but Elfman’s aesthetic and recognizably unique voice at least prevents So-Lo from sounding generic and, therefore, disposable. I can’t make a case for essential listening either, so anybody who has no idea of this album’s existence isn’t missing out drastically. Or anybody who does know about this album, for that matter. That includes you now! Spoiler Alert: I’m gonna assign a “Good” rating to this one, so use that information as you will and do whatever the fuck you want ya turkey, I don’t care.

Only the most loyal of fans were even aware of this album at the time, and since Danny Elfman actually did start putting out solo material around this time exclusively as a composer credit for movie soundtracks I imagine So-Lo got lost in the shuffle quite readily (especially since the overlap of the Oingo Boingo/Danny Elfman soundtrack fanbase Venn Diagram is the size of a needle point). Likely, the advent of the Internet brought a lot more awareness to So-Lo‘s existence and long-time fans who had bothered to dip back into the past and uncover this artifact for themselves were pleasantly surprised to hear the missing link between Good for Your Soul and Dead Man’s Party. Not only is it literally a link, being the album sandwiched between them chronologically, but So-Lo actually sounds like the logical checkpoint along the way of the main path from the high-energy Good for Your Soul to the restrained, mainstream appeal of Dead Man’s Party. Almost impressive in hindsight, it’s as if someone told the band 20 years later to make an album that fit seamlessly into the timeline. But they didn’t. So it’s not impressive.

Because this is 1984 we’re talking about, tastefulness is at an all-time low during this era of radio-friendly contemporary music and So-Lo is absolutely packed to the gills with schmaltzy electronic synthesizer decadence. It’ll hit you full force immediately on the opening track “Gratitude”, where the first few bars sound like a robot pounding on a carnival organ filtered through PVC piping, but in a wonderful way! Not in a bad way like you’re used to with this kind of situation, you know? But to the untrained ear of the person who waves off any and all ’80s music as atrocious, this album doesn’t really help the defense. Songs like “Go Away” and “The Last Time” are even ballad-y, which adds more packets of Sweet’N Low to the mix. The only thing that stops even me from considering this as expendable ’80s dreck is my unwavering Oingo Boingo fanboyism! That is to say, Elfman’s one-of-a-kind personality is all over this record and keeps it from plunging into the enormous cesspool of forgettable pop mediocrity, at least in my opinion. This album is indeed forgotten-as-fuck, though, so maybe I’m being too nice.

Synth hell aside, the melodies are as strong as ever. The aforementioned “Gratitude” has more hooks than some pop artists have in their entire discographies, complete with layered choruses and distorted guitar breakdowns. Two other album highlights with similar energies are “Tough as Nails” and “Lightning”, the former being a Eastern-tinged number with upbeat, skankin’ horns, and the latter being a classic nervous and paranoid Boingo song (really the only one on the record, which makes sense because it was originally slated to be part of Good for Your Soul).  Others range from forgettable at worst to enjoyable at best: “Cool City” has a dumb name and the whole attitude of the song smacks of weenie wiseguy-machismo. The lyrics don’t help either (“The blacks they all hate the whites/COOOOOOOL CITY/The whites think they’re tough but they’re not/COOOOOOOL CITY“), but it has a solid melody to keep it from being a total disgrace. “It Only Makes Me Laugh” is a slightly embarrassing take on some straightly-played 2 Tone ska/new wave, but, again, the melody reigns supreme and it has just the bare minimum amount soul to be convincing enough (“I-I-I-I-I don’t know why I feel this way/I don’t know if it’s right or wrong/To laugh at misfortune/Darkness can never last too L-O-O-O-O-NG!“, pfffffft). Both “Sucker for Mystery and “Everybody Needs” do not have particularly interesting melodies, but a couple of good hooks hold them together adequately.

Doubling back to two slower-paced songs, “Go Away” is the weakest track on the disc for sure. Elfman unleashes his inner Morrissey and belts out some rather cringe-y self-pitying lines straight out of his teenage diary. I mean, come on, with a chorus like “Go away from me, just go away/To another time, another place/To another world, another dream/Go away from me” it makes me want to tie him up to the flagpole after 6th period. But, again, a strong enough melody elevates it. Just don’t listen to the goddamn words. “The Last Time” is markedly better, but you still get lines like “And I think the whole world’s laughing at us/But I don’t care; that’s not the point” that feel juvenile in its breadth of emotion. AND THAT LEADS ME TO MY NEXT POINT…

…HI THERE. From here on out, as Elfman gets swept up further into the world of movie soundtrack composition, he becomes less and less cheeky and more and more “artistic” and “mature”, for lack of better words. So-Lo is the very first, yet small, sign of the transition. The music itself, in terms of tone, structure and rhythm, is very similar to what we’ve gotten from Oingo Boingo before. The herky-jerkiness of Only a Lad is getting tempered further as time goes on, but we’re not yet to the point of the non-experimental adult contemporary pop song frameworks that will start creeping into the records little by little. What’s noticeable here on So-Lo are the lyrical and vocal shifts. Only once in a while do you hear the bouncy rubber band of Elfman’s manic voice, mostly here he croons. Some songs have the snark and the dark clever societal observations, but some are straight from the heart instead of the brain. Elfman is attempting to flex his chops with respect to sincerity and emotional vulnerability, and with the range he’s got who am I to say he shouldn’t go for it? But I’m not buying it. And that’s a discussion for another time.

So, yes, So-Lo gets a “Good” rating and I stand by that opinion 100%. It is a good album, warts and all, but it will be hard to give the band a pass from this point forward. Honestly, over time you might guiltily like “Go Away” because I certainly do. The important thing is to be self-aware enough to know when what you enjoy is garbage! BOINGO 4-EVA.

GOOD