Pop, Obv.: The Rise And Fall Of 3OH!3

Photo by David Greenwald

Remember these guys? Because they don’t. Watch the “My First Kiss” video after the jump, or do yourself a favor and don’t — shit’s depressing. In it, 3OH!3 (with help from parental nightmare/endearing self-parody Ke$ha) wear “cool” clothes, ride an aggro-yet-Gaga-esque electro beat and generally evoke the moment in blink-182’s career when dudes realized they had to follow up a surprise hit album with a non-surprise hit album and gave themselves a PG rating. It’s a far cry from the band I saw on a side stage at Bamboozle Left just two years ago, the duo that dressed in Winnie the Pooh and Hamburglar outfits (pictured, awesomely) and spilled out f-bombs like BP oil. At the time, 3OH!3 reminded me of a young Beastie Boys — snarling, funny and intensely charismatic. Is this subversion of the highest order or just selling out? Either way, I can’t totally begrudge them the move toward pop stupidity — that new pool’s not going to pay for itself.