Omnikrom: Comme à la Télévision

By Chris Dart
(Originally published in Exclaim, Spring 2009)

Omnikrom are in a tough spot for their second album, Comme à la Télévision. On one hand, they don't want to deviate too far from the formula that made their full-length debut, Trop Banane!, so much fun. On the other, they don't want to look like one-trick-ponies, the goofy electro party boys who can't change speeds.

Télévision has all the weird synth bleeps, pop culture references and up-tempo, skittering beats that made Banane the success it was. "Je Crie Encore" shows the boys at their best, with MCs Jeanbart and Linso Gabbo flexing their elastic, syllable-holding rhyme styles over bouncy, chaotic beats. The title cut is pure dance floor gold, right down to its chant-along chorus.

But Télévision also has Omnikrom showing some breadth. "Feel Collins" is a downtempo, melancholy-sounding, AutoTune-heavy, borderline ballad. "Vedettes" is an industrial-style collaboration with the Sainte-Catherines, while "Plus Tard" is a mid-speed creeper built around a piano riff.

For a bunch of guys who talk about their Peter Pan-syndrome on "Crie Encore," Comme à la Télévision shows a lot of musical maturity. (Saboteur)