It’s not often you run into a heavy metal band dressed up as Ned Flanders from The Simpsons singing lyrics from Homer’s dorky neighbor, but here we are living our best lives. The band Okilly Dokilly rose to prominence in 2019 after their song “White Wine Spritzer” was featured during the closing credits of a Simpsons episode, and ever since have been a cult favorite of fans of the long-running animated show. The premise is simple– the band wears Flanders’ iconic green sweaters, copies the vast majority of their lyrics from Flanders lines on the show, and shreds heavy metal like it’s going out of style. From a lyrics perspective the band takes two approaches– either Ned’s lines need to sound super dark and heavy metal when taken out of context (ex. “Clawing My Eyes Out”) or needs to be so silly and over the top that it has no place ever being in a metal song (ex. “White Wine Spritzer”). That duality kept things fresh and fun for me throughout the entire album. Long live “Neddy Metal”.
Standout Songs: “White Wine Spritzer”, “Godspeed Little Doodle”, “Nothing At All”
