Piper Spray – Omnicron Girls (Orange Milk Records, 2011)
Alright, let’s dive into this wild ride of an album. Omnicron Girls by Piper Spray is one of those records that doesn’t just sit in the background—it grabs you by the brain and shakes it like a snow globe. Released in 2011 on Orange Milk Records, this experimental electronic gem feels like someone took all your childhood sci-fi dreams, threw them into a particle accelerator, and hit “blend.” The result? A glitchy, abstract masterpiece that’s equal parts playful and disorienting.
The album bounces between tracks with names so quirky they feel plucked from a fever dream. Take "Young Explorers Were Lost.Snow" for example. This track kicks off with what sounds like a malfunctioning robot orchestra tuning up before spiraling into a kaleidoscope of bleeps, bloops, and distant echoes. It’s haunting but oddly comforting, like watching static on an old TV late at night when you were a kid. There’s something about how the synths swell and dip—it makes me think of tiny astronauts wandering through endless white landscapes, leaving footprints only to have them erased instantly. Yeah, it sticks with you.
Then there’s "Talk Oceanologists," which might be my favorite cut here. If aquatic alien lifeforms had theme music, this would be it. Imagine bubbles rising from the deep sea, distorted voices whispering secrets you can almost understand, and basslines that ripple like waves hitting the shore. It’s hypnotic yet unsettling, like staring too long at the ocean and realizing how little we actually know about it. I swear, every time this track comes on, I forget where I am for a second. Is it underwater? Outer space? My own living room? Who knows.
Other standouts include "Train to the Castle of Twins" (which sounds exactly like its title suggests—a locomotive chugging through dimensions) and "Soft Jump" (a jittery, jitterbugging mess of sound that somehow works). But honestly, the whole album flows together like some surreal journey you didn’t ask for but are glad you took anyway.
What strikes me most about Omnicron Girls is how unapologetically weird it is. It doesn’t try to fit neatly into any genre box; instead, it smashes those boxes apart and builds something entirely new out of the shards. Experimental albums like this don’t always land, but Piper Spray pulls it off with charm and confidence.
So yeah, if you’re looking for easy listening or predictable beats, maybe skip this one. But if you want to get lost in a world of pixelated jungles, neon-lit oceans, and cosmic train rides, give Omnicron Girls a spin. Just don’t blame me if you start hearing Shimiko whispers in your sleep. That last track will do that to ya.
