Omni
Souvenir
SUB POP
Contrary to Yngwie Malmsteen’s operating philosophy, less truly can be more. Atlanta post-punk trio Omni implicitly live by this credo, their entire body of work defined by the sound of three musicians working in locked-in unison, each element bouncing off of each other in a mesmerizing sense of harmony. They’ve never aimed for something dramatically greater than that basic framework in any of their songs, the combination of Frankie Broyles’ guitar and vocals, Philip Frobos’ bass, and Chris Yonker’s drums all necessary pieces of the greater whole—no more, no less. To hear these three engaged in a lean, taut round of post-punk jitters is to hear Omni at its purest.
The band’s fourth album and second for Sub Pop, Souvenir, doesn’t dramatically alter this basic foundation, rooted in the classic ’70s-era post-punk of American icons such as Television, Talking Heads, and Devo. But the beauty of a sound as starkly pristine as Omni’s is that it only takes a subtle change to make a considerable difference. A recurrent one-note synth drone beneath the chime of guitars and guest vocals from Automatic’s Izzy Glaudini elevates standout “Plastic Pyramid” into hypnotic krautrock terrain. Likewise, in the hunting-oligarchs-for-sport tale of “INTL Waters,” the band adds ornate flourishes of piano to their sharp and jangly guitar attack, arriving upon a sound that’s more art-pop than post-punk.
While the essence of what makes Omni unique remains intact on Souvenir, there’s a slight angle toward more generous use of space here, emphasizing melodies that linger in place a little longer and make their presence known. On past records, the group’s machine was so well oiled that their hooks scarcely remained in one place for too long. Here, however, they get a little more comfortable slowing down and putting more weight behind their hooks. “PG” still comes and goes in only two and a half minutes, but their rhythmic jerk of low-end pulse and guitar arpeggios comes to a surprisingly bright climax of open chords and pop melodies in its chorus. And despite some of the more heavily distorted sounds driving “Double Negative,” it carries a groove and a swagger that feels like Omni fully embracing their idea of a rock anthem.
With Souvenir, Omni take the encouraging and highly rewarding step of adding more depth to their compositions, and yet they do so without rethinking or recalibrating the thrust of what makes them Omni. They’ve never sounded so good at being themselves.
