OMNI + SOFT WALLS – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 10.4.24
Atlanta trio OMNI have this evening opened up their 10-date UK & Ireland tour here in Brighton at the ever popular Green Door Store. From here they will go on to play Bristol, Falmouth, Dublin, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Margate and London. To my knowledge it’s the American’s third visit to Brighton having previously played here at the Green Door Store on 17th February 2017 and at The Hope & Ruin on 25th November 2019. This evening however is my debut encounter with the band. Better late than never I guess!
Thus far OMNI, which comprises of Philip Frobos (vocals, bass), Frankie Broyles (guitar) and Chris Yonker (drums, drumpads), have released four albums, these being ‘Deluxe’ (2016), ‘Multi-task’ (2017), ‘Networker’ (2019) and latest offering 2024’s ‘Souvenir’ album which like its predecessor came out via the Sub Pop label. The eleven song ‘Souvenir’ album which can be purchased HERE was released on 16th February and finds the trio converting their creative fuel into sharp, driving songs that land immediately, sporting chopping riffs, staccato beats, and wiry melodies. Each track is a compact unit that stands on its own, reflecting the time and place in which it was created. The album’s lead single is titled ‘Exacto’ and according to the band the “Lyrics and melodies were written in the back of a van in Sacramento, thinking of being left on the shelf, imagining the odd things people do for attention from people they love and strangers alike”. You can watch the video for the tune HERE.
The trio take to the Green Door Store stage at 9:14pm and perform no less than 17 songs in a 55 minute performance (to a near capacity crowd) that concludes at 10:09pm. They begin without announcing their stage presence with ‘Supermoon’ the first of four numbers from their 2017 ‘Multi-task’ album. Interestingly, guitarist Frankie stands sideways on to the crowd, a position he doesn’t deviate from whatsoever during the set, not even when we sing him ‘Happy Birthday’. It’s as though he is really shy, but this doesn’t affect his workmanship. Philip is very much the frontman and he delivers the lyrics rather than prattling on about “How fab it is to be back in the UK and what a fab crowd we are yadda yadda yadda”. ‘Supermoon’ is a typical OMNI quirky post-punk tune and this outfit seriously caters for music lovers who are fans of Gang Of Four, Talking Heads, The Fall, Devo and The Fire Engines. To me ‘Supermoon’ is like a melodic Fall tune, whereas the following number ‘Granite Kiss’ the first of a half dozen cuts from the new ‘Souvenir’ album, is very much in Gang Of Four territory. After ‘Afterlife’ (from 2016’s ‘Deluxe’ album) Philip finally addresses the crowd stating “It’s great to be back, it’s been ages” and that was about it. Next on the menu was a couple from 2019’s ‘Networker’ album, the first being the toe tapping ‘Moat’ which was followed by the Talking Heads ‘Psycho Killer’-esque ‘Courtesy Call’.
Philip announces that it’s Frankie’s birthday today and quite a number of punters do the honours! Philip adds that their latest album is ‘Souvenir’ and that tonight they are going to play some tunes from that. ‘Exacto’ being one such song and is very much a Gang Of Four soundalike. The toe tapping ‘Equestrian’, which is found on 2017’s ‘Multi-task’ long-player, is up next. I was thinking to myself that Philip’s vocals were sounding like Devo, when photographer Sara actually says this to me. We are clearly on the same page. After this track Philip then introduces the Fall-esque ‘Earrings’ (from 2016’s ‘Deluxe’ album) which he says he can’t remember them playing the song here first time around. The lads then bring us up to date with 2024’s ‘INTL Waters’ which is their most explosive number thus far with its short sharp strikes of the guitar by Frankie (who is still on his spot).
Another cut from 2016’s ‘Deluxe’ album was up next in the form of ‘Plane’ with its sudden ending. During this track, Philip accidentally broke a string on his bass which he wasn’t impressed with as it’s the opening night of the tour. So whilst he fixed it, drummer Chris and guitarist Frankie played an impromptu jam for a couple of minutes. After this the lads got back underway with the jaunty and in parts almost Thin Lizzy-esque ‘Skeleton Key’ which is from their ‘Networker’ album. Another newbie was upon us in the form of ‘Common Mistakes’, which again has a Devo vibe but with added Clash elements. The Fire Engines sprung to mind for ‘Southbound Station’ from ‘Multi-task’ which the trio certainly rocked on out to. Philip then wished us “Bon Appétit” as they headed on into ‘After Dinner’ from ‘Multi-task’ which speeded up rather nicely at its conclusion. More quirkiness and jauntiness followed with the arrival of the quiet introed ‘Compliment’ from the new album.
The trio only has a couple more numbers to play us, with the first of these being their funkiest number of the night, namely the Gang Of Four-esque ‘Wire’ (from 2016’s ‘Deluxe’ album), which received the loudest cheer of the night from the mixed aged punters. After this Philip says “Consider this your encore, this is the last song of the night”, and they close with ‘Plastic Pyramid’ (from ‘Souvenir’), the vocals of which reminded me of John Grant and then 10cc in places. This could well be on account of the joint vocals from drummer Chris along with Philip. This was a good choice of song in which to end their set and so leave the punters on a high as they all swiftly vacated the venue.
OMNI:
Philip Frobos – vocals, bass
Frankie Broyles – guitar
Chris Yonker – drums, drumpads, backing vocals
OMNI setlist:
‘Supermoon’ (from 2017 ‘Multi-task’ album)
‘Granite Kiss’ (from 2024 ‘Souvenir’ album)
‘Afterlife’ (from 2016 ‘Deluxe’ album)
‘Moat’ (from 2019 ‘Networker’ album)
‘Courtesy Call’ (from 2019 ‘Networker’ album)
‘Exacto’ (from 2024 ‘Souvenir’ album)
‘Equestrian’ (from 2017 ‘Multi-task’ album)
‘Earrings’ (from 2016 ‘Deluxe’ album)
‘INTL Waters’ (from 2024 ‘Souvenir’ album)
‘Plane’ (from 2016 ‘Deluxe’ album)
‘Skeleton Key’ (from 2019 ‘Networker’ album)
‘Common Mistakes’ (from 2024 ‘Souvenir’ album)
‘Southbound Station’ (from 2017 ‘Multi-task’ album)
‘After Dinner’ (from 2017 ‘Multi-task’ album)
‘Compliment’ (from 2024 ‘Souvenir’ album)
‘Wire’ (from 2016 ‘Deluxe’ album)
‘Plastic Pyramid’ (from 2024 ‘Souvenir’ album)
Support this evening came from Brighton based Soft Walls which is the one-person recording project of Dan Reeves, who through his home-recorded jams is apparently “searching to ruin the perfect song”. My debut encounter with Soft Walls was back on 8th December 2019 at the Concorde 2 when Dan was playing a solo set as support to L’Épée. This evening for the 33 minute 10 song set, which ran from 8:15pm to 8:48pm, sees Dan on vocals, guitar, Roland keys and effects and he is this time around joined by Joe Tindall (guitar), Stuart Cartland (bass) and Scott Reeve (drums). They open up with ‘A Whisper In Your Ear’ which is the first of five tracks being performed this evening that are available on last year’s ‘True Love’ album. This tune reminds me of the work of Tom Petty. Sadly at this stage the venue is rather sparse, which is a shame, but the numbers do begin to build the longer Soft Walls are on stage.
The first of three numbers from 2019’s ‘Not As Bad As It Seems’ album is up next, this being ‘Every Target Can Afford To Wait’ which thankfully is a more urgent, faster rockin’ tune than the opener. The title track from last year’s ‘True Love’ album is up next and this sees Dan making good use of the Roland keyboard, as the song speeds along nicely. This tune has an early to mid 1980’s vibe going on and reminds me of the work by The Wake. Now then it’s here that my attention is seriously increased with the arrival of 2014’s ‘All The Same’ from the ‘No Time’ album, this being the only track performed tonight from that release. This is bar far the best tune so far without question! Scott’s metronomic drumming is a joy to behold and Stuart’s guitar work matches this and in general the quartet psyched out fabulously. Think the combination of Stereolab meets Moon Duo and you have it! Their reward, the loudest applause thus far.
The second selection from the ‘Not As Bad As It Seems’ album is played next, this being ‘Ex-King’ which has a Velvet Underground vibe going down. This segues straight into ‘Calling Out Your Name’ from 2023’s ‘True Love’ album. After which the lads play ‘Thin As A Thread’ (found on the ‘Not As Bad As It Seems’ album) where Dan ditches his guitar in favour of the keys and the guys psyched out again just like they had on ‘All The Same’. There’s a definite Stereolab acknowledgement here and I honestly wish that all of their set sounded just like this! The standalone 2021 single ‘You’re A Fool’ comes next and it’s back into Tom Petty territory. They signed off with a couple of cuts from the ‘True Love’ album, these being the steady paced ‘Where Are You Going’ and ‘Waking’ with its Joy Division-esque drumming.
Check out Soft Walls recorded material by visiting Bandcamp HERE.
Soft Walls:
Dan Reeves – vocals, guitar, keys
Joe Tindall – guitar
Stuart Cartland – bass
Scott Reeve – drums
Soft Walls setlist:
‘A Whisper In Your Ear’ (from 2023 ‘True Love’ album)
‘Every Target Can Afford To Wait’ (from 2019 ‘Not As Bad As It Seems’ album)
‘True Love’ (from 2023 ‘True Love’ album)
‘All The Same’ (from 2014 ‘No Time’ album)
‘Ex-King’ (from 2019 ‘Not As Bad As It Seems’ album)
‘Calling Out Your Name’ (from 2023 ‘True Love’ album)
‘Thin As A Thread’ (from 2019 ‘Not As Bad As It Seems’ album)
‘You’re A Fool’ (a 2021 single)
‘Where Are You Going’ (from 2023 ‘True Love’ album)
‘Waking’ (from 2023 ‘True Love’ album)
www.instagram.com/softwallsband
