Omni

Omni’s sophomore album is upon us and it’s a perfect update of the influences they chewed on their 2016 debut. They’re still chomping wire nervously in the corners of the room, and I can’t help but love it – with an overture of itchy guitar lines emanating from Broyles’ fingers like broken clockwork puzzles. This is agit-pop proper, full of the introverted excitement that bands like The Embarrassment or Girls (the ’86 version) embraced in their horn-rimmed glory. Multi-task is a record for the deep divers that dance alone to a pincushion pop that matches their disjointed sensibilities. Broyles and Frobos understand why The Voidoids felt the need to run a trickle of sulfuric acid over their love songs – pure pop is far too sincere for a cracked consciousness run rampant with insomnia and idle time.

They don’t just shackle themselves to bent metal licks alone though, the band has a self-professed love for the Postcard records sound and the jittery pop preen of those esteemed ’70s agitators comes through atop the band’s serrated songcraft. Though they pair again with Nathaniel Higgins on recording duties, this time they sound a bit more present than on Deluxe. Where that album felt like a faded demo found and re-salvaged from the discard pile of some asshole A&R with too little scope, this sounds like a true workup – one ready for mass production, post-punk infamy, and modern rediscovery.

There are a whole host of bands that want to pull on post-punk like a $5.00 last minute Halloween costume and the baggy seams show easily on their accomplishments. Omni are a different sort of band, one that’s clearly spent their spare time riffling the same racks a lot of us inhabit, creeping YouTube in the wee hours looking for one more step beyond the normal essentials lists. Multi-task feels like a band making the album members have been reaching for in their other bands. It feels like finding that elusive sound that’s been nagging at the back of your brain, nailing it and sharing it with all the other freaks looking for a salve to the same itch.