9.07.2011

Oberhofer :: "Gotta Go"

Some people just have a flair for departure. Brad Oberhofer, the label intern and NYU student turned serious indie rock commodity, spent most of his first best song, "I Could Go" yelping the title lyric to the enjoyment of everyone who listened. It was a mantra for a generation of shrugging kids who were content to, pardon the reference, take it or leave it. Newly signed to Glassnote, Oberhofer's latest track, "Gotta Go" is a different animal, suggesting a more lilting, emotional pathos about the power of a reverse impulse, the power of not leaving. If 19 year old Bradley was into the fact that he turned his back on Tacoma, Washington in a flourish, he has turned into more of a New York kid, full of solipsisms, a measure of rye self-pity and a narrative of co-dependency that is as intently argued as it is probably untrue. It is, in part or parcel, for show. When he rhymes "I don't ever want to leave" with "that would be too sad for me", he's putting us all on a bit. It doesn't mean that you can't grow up and lean yourself against someone else. It's just that he seemed a shade more earnest when he chirped about leaving us all behind.

Listen :: Oberhofer - "Gotta Go"

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