So-Lo

An Oingo Boingo album in everything but name, So-Lo was released under Danny Elfman's name due to a contract dispute with A&M. The “solo” release gave Elfman and the band a chance to get away from the manic dance tunes that had become synonymous with the Boingo brand. Instead it focuses on brooding, atmospheric songs like “Go Away,” “The Last Time," and “Sucker for Mystery.” Though it might lack the zany energy that propelled the early Boingo releases, So-Lo has several gorgeous songs that are still very much in the band's spirit. A simmering, textural funk tune, “Gratitude” is equal to the big hits by David Bowie and Peter Gabriel released around the same time. Meanwhile, “It Only Makes Me Laugh” should have been a hit. Though Oingo Boingo had performed ska tunes for years, there was never a track as twinkling or as fleet-footed as this. As Elfman says on the proto-rap song of the same name: “I’ve always been a sucker for mystery.”