Album review – Omniblast by Balance Lost (2024) (Self released)
Quietly releasing the sort of indie-pop blessings that only cross the paths of the truly honored for nearly fifteen years now, Tokyo-based (via Medway, UK) Peter Glover and his Lost Balance project have released this superb 60+ track Omniblast album that collates all the odds and ends tracks that did not quite make his other albums or have been revived after originally being intended for other projects.
Often, such ‘b-sides and extras’ type compilations can be somewhat erratic, forcing a listener to sift through a whole lot of chaff to find those golden nuggets of wheat. However, in this Omniblast release, the nuggets just keep on arriving in the various musical nuances that have always been an integral part the Balance Lost aesthetic.
As such, the crunchy, high-tempo fuzz of Long Story Short, Safe Underground, and Personal Space punctuate the mid-tempo slacker-pop sounds of tracks best represented by I’ll Rochambeau You For It, Miaow, and Adopted City, whereas Pareidolia, Pistols at Dawn, Clique Unique, and High and Higher are all manner of post-punk modernity with the similar scratch and glitch stylistics of Nervous Twitch or Cola.
However, the very best of the album is heard in Just As I Predicted, Admit Defeat, Back to the Well, That Milford Sound, and My Heroic Performance. Here the quirks seem to be diminished as the sounds of the beautifully jangly indie-pop of the best of the 1980’s Anglo acts are juxtaposed with Glovers’ inimitable sense of originality.
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