What’s the deal?
Melbourne duo Oh Pep!’s moniker derives from a conflation of singer/guitarist Olivia Hally and nimble-fingered mandolinist/violinist Pepita Emmerichs’ names (get it?) rather than an attempt to convey the spirit of its music in concise form.
That’s not to say Oh Pep! can’t be peppy; Hally and Emmerichs proved a charmingly geeky and self-effacingly funny pair whilst playing their first North American dates at the South by Southwest festival in Austin this past March, and there are bursts of eruptive, all-in buoyancy on Oh Pep!’s forthcoming debut LP, Stadium Cake — due June 24 via Dualtone Records — to justify the record’s tongue-in-cheek title.
By and large, though, these two musically gifted art-school friends move in the same smartypants-sad-gal orbit as such CanCon singer/songwriter heroines as Leslie Feist, Basia Bulat, Jenn Grant and Tegan and Sara — with a touch of Melbourne citymate Courtney Barnett’s wordy bite occasionally creeping in and deployed in less black-humoured directions — so some instant traction with the CBC Radio 3/Indie 88 crowds seems guaranteed. They could do a lot worse.
Sum up what you do in a few simple sentences.
“We, Liv and Pep, collaborate on songs that stem from our inner explorer and love of all musics. Pop songs with a twist? And an exclamation mark. That’s us.”
What’s a song I need to hear right now?
“Doctor Doctor.” Gilds Oh Pep!’s sorta-twee folksiness with a welcome soupçon of New Wave and an easy-to-get-behind chorus.
Where can I see them play?
At the Great Hall on Thursday, Feb. 9, opening for Valerie June.
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