Optiganally Yours
O.Y In Hi-Fi

Here we are dealing with a disc that appears interesting right from the cover, an advertisement-like representation that I would describe as drawn from a sample of "post-atomic" genre images, but it's the entire project that is somehow fascinating and even built on an idea that might seem like one among many, mostly even mediocre, in the micro or macro world of indie music—this time it works and sounds convincingly and of quality. At the center: the Optigan, a small organ manufactured by Mattel in the early seventies, which reproduced low-fidelity audio loops on flexible LP-sized discs containing rhythmic grooves set on genres like country or bossa nova. The same things later done by Farfisa organs in a more characteristically analog manner.

Optiganally Yours (San Diego, California) is a group that actually has a long history behind it. The project dates back to the 1990s when the two roommates Rob Crow (Pinback) and Pea Hix became literally obsessed with the sounds of the Optigan and decided to form a band. They also released a couple of albums (worth mentioning the hit "Mr Wilson") and then disappeared from the scene until today with this new work titled "O.Y In Hi-Fi" and released on Joyful Noise Recordings. Clearly based entirely on the sound of the instrument, the record has an indie-pop aesthetic, but the sounds are never dull, and the construction of the pieces is easy-listening yet definitely interesting. An inevitable vintage imprint which hints at the seventies lounge dimensions, as well as the bossa nova sound like "Martin" or "Night Shop", Beatles reminiscent low-intensity loops like "O.Y.nisqatsi", and in general an approach that may remind of groups like Belle and Sebastian or some Stephen Merritt ballads, some Sufjan Stevens versions, but above all the pop trademark of New Order and Pet Shop Boys.

Made with the aid of a couple of Optigan variants, the Vako Orchestron and the Chilton Talentmaker, the album clearly makes one think of certain experimental experiences in the period spanning the nineties and the 2000s. I recall attending a beautiful set of the Italians My Cat Is An Alien with Jackie-O Motherfucker back in those years. But anyhow, the concept is the same reuse of the sixties' analog instrumentation like old tape recorders (also on the set) or the intensive use of the Farfisa, mixed with that lo-fi culture introduced by Daniel Johnston. All in all, a record that works and is a pleasure to listen to, undoubtedly more than bringing great expectations possibly then dashed, it evokes a certain curiosity in the listener, and this is a great merit.