Track by Track offers artists the opportunity to guide readers through each song on their newest release. Today, Omnigone vocalist Adam Davis breaks down the band’s new album, Feral .
East Bay ska punk band Omnigone have returned with their third studio album, Feral . A blistering, uncompromising body of work, it represents a pinnacle of music fulfillment for vocalist (and In Defense of Ska co-host) Adam Davis.
Feral was recorded live with Jack Shirley at Oakland’s Atomic Garden in just three-and-a-half days, with all of the music written by bassist Barry Krippene. In a departure from his previous albums, Davis didn’t play any guitar and solely recorded vocals.
“Barry got sober in 2019, which flipped a switch in him as a songwriter,” he adds. “We are usually sitting on a backlog of about 25-30 full song demos. Some of them are mine but the vast majority are his.”
Davis also reveals that Feral is “uncompromisingly” the album he’s always wanted to make. “I look back on now and feel like I made compromises, cheated myself or wasted my time,” he explains. “There are other albums where I knew what I wanted but just couldn’t get there. Feral is an album I would have loved as a teenager, as an angry young adult, and now.”
He continues, “Feral is defined as ‘in a wild state, after escaping from captivity or domestication.’ That title perfectly sums up how this album feels. This album won’t be for everyone, but definitely for me. When making art or music, that’s my North star. If it’s something I want to listen to, I’ve succeeded. If someone else enjoys it, all the better.”
By staying true to himself, David hopes to inspire listeners to do the same. “If you’ve found this, if you’re among the few who see yourself reflected in these words, I hope you are living your life on your own terms,” he says. “If you aren’t, start today. If I can start a new ska punk band in my 40s, you can do the thing you have been putting off, too.”
Stream Feral below and read Davis’ full Track by Track breakdown.
“Quicksand”:
Right off the rip, this sounds less like a ska album and more like a hardcore album. The opening bass and drums remind me of Sick of It All. The lyrics are about the hopelessness of war, the folly of nationalism, and despair at the loss of human life. It’s meant to evoke images of trench warfare: the realization that you are so dug in, that you are standing in your own grave.
“Violence”:
My friend Philip, a huge proponent of self-defense classes, told me this (and I’d have to agree): the ability to fight back is important. Peace needs to be a choice and to keep peace, you need to remain vigilant. Unrelated, but also somewhat related, the album Violence Violence by Ceremony was on in the car around the time these lyrics were written, so a little of that incredible album bled in.
“Again & Again”:
The tempo downshifts here and we get something a little different from the band. This is one that Barry sent over fully finished, it’s not much different here than from the demo recording. The lyrics here reflect what I was speaking to earlier, unless you take control of your life and live for yourself, you’ll stay stuck in a cycle of unhappiness.
“Grief”:
Nick Traina was the singer of Link 80 when I first saw the band. He passed away at the age of 19 in 1997. As a parent, with my own sons nearing their teenage years, I often get this wave of grief when I think about everything he missed out on. It’s for Nick, but it’s also for everyone else I know who went too soon. There are two samples of Nick on this song. The best way I thought to pay tribute to him was to put his voice on a song 27 years after his departure.
“Modern Medicine”:
This is a cover of a School Drugs song. School Drugs are a hardcore band from New Jersey, I saw them live for the first time at FEST in Gainesville, Florida. Somehow during their set, Josh (their vocalist) wound up in the rafters some 20 feet over our heads. The pictures from that are insane. Josh is probably my favorite frontperson in hardcore right now. Anyhow, after you’re done with this, go listen to “Feel Like Shit” by School Drugs. We’ll probably cover that song next.
“Regress”:
It’s ok to cry. That’s literally what this song is about. “Regress” musically feels very East Bay, like early AFI (which I know means different things to different people. I prefer Black Sails -era AFI but I can remember people hating on that album). I really love the way the opening drum fill on this one sounds.
“Her Story”:
Another song that Barry brought in fully formed. The importance of women to society gets written out of our history. We made a music video for this one directed by my friend Andrew Juncker who has collaborated on a lot of art with me since we were in our 20s. My friend Nnekay FitzClarke-Weaver played the lead, and Bart Frescura wore the mask he made as the villain. The video is very influenced by a specific video game that AJ and I had both recently played. I won’t say which one here. First person to email me with the correct answer, I’ll mail you a T-shirt for free.
“Debt Past Due”:
When I wrote these lyrics I was specifically thinking about the encampment at the end of my street, right at the East Oakland border. It’s one of the largest in the country. These people have nowhere else to go, they’ve been pushed out of their homes by greed, and no one is doing anything about it.
“The Youth”:
A quick little banger about taking the blinders off and realizing that America isn’t great, was never great, and that we need to let the youth take the lead with our support.
“Fare Share”:
This is part two to “Debt Past Due” in my eyes. “Fare Share” was the placeholder title on the demo and I loved that as a jumping-off point for the lyrics. We take the same ride there, it’s only fair for you to pay your fare share. If you’ve ever driven in the East Bay, the roads are made out of potholes. The wealthy deserve to pay their fair share of taxes, especially if the rest of us do. Also fix the damn potholes, where are my tax dollars going. (Damn, real dad rant here).
“Bad Radio”:
Definitely the poppiest song on the record. Barry wrote this song years ago with an old friend they called “The Captain” (real ones will recognize that as a Blast Bandits reference) and we repurposed it. This one had a lot of different demo versions before we landed on this.
“Drop of Water”:
Notable on this song, Bryan Matheson of the now-defunct Oakland venue iMusicast contributes backup vocals to this song. iMusicast was a venue ahead of its time, bringing livestreamed concerts to the internet for free. Lots of big bands came through the venue (My Chemical Romance, Everytime I Die, The Blood Brothers, Team Sleep) but the venue was most well known as the incubator for the Matches and their L3 concert series. I had coffee with Bryan and asked him to add some backup vocals to this song. Stoked to be on a song with him.
“Absolute Zero”:
The album closer that I initially thought would be the album opener. I didn’t like it as the intro to the whole record, but when it was flipped and put as the final track, it clicked into place. If nothing else this song proves that ska can sound sinister as fuck.
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