Though a whopping 18 years separate
Optiganally Yours' second album Optiganally Yours Presents: Exclusively Talentmaker and its follow-up
O.Y. in Hi-Fi, the duo never disappeared completely.
Rob Crow and Pea Hix contributed to a slew of compilations in the early 2000s, then resurfaced a decade later to tour. During that time, they tinkered on their third album while
Crow worked with
Pinback and
Goblin Cock and Hix established himself as a composer in San Diego's theater scene and helped preserve the history of the Optigan. That included salvaging the original recordings used to make the discs the Optigan plays from a garage shortly after the release of Talentmaker. Hix and
Crow sampled those recordings to make
O.Y. in Hi-Fi, hence the album's name: The Optigan's unmistakably hissy, canned sound has been stripped away and replaced with crystal-clear sonics. Considering how much the Optigan's inherent limitations and wheezy sound heightened the whimsy and poignancy of
Crow and Hix's first two albums, it's a risky choice. Fortunately,
O.Y. in Hi-Fi proves
Optiganally Yours don't need to use their namesake instrument to make charming, witty songs. It's fun to hear the source recordings without any snaps, crackles, or pops on "Pirates and Monkeys" and "Night Shop," a pair of breezy bossa nova-tinged tracks that hint at the mid-20th century exotica craze with bongos and marimba. The recordings' early-'70s origins also come through on the smooth funk-pop of "How Do You Feel?," which feels akin to
Odelay-era
Beck, and on "Hope in Your Eyes," a pizzicato string-laden soft rock ballad that's one of the duo's catchiest moments. Several songs sound like classic
Optiganally Yours, just tuned in a little more clearly:
Crow's voice remains a soothing counterpoint to all the activity surrounding him on the bright, busy "Whomever Watches You Sleep." "Martin (midori2tree)" -- which has been kicking around since the late '90s -- is still a great example of the duo's sweetly winding melodies and holds its own with the album's newer material. Despite the amount of time it took to make and release,
O.Y. in Hi-Fi isn't just a time capsule.
Crow and Hix find new ways of balancing mischievous kitsch like the accordion fantasia "Lemons and Tacos" with more serious fare such as the hypnotic "Too Close to the Sun" and the moving closing track "This Heart." In some ways, it's a small miracle that
O.Y. in Hi-Fi even exists, and even if it's less kooky than
Optiganally Yours' previous music, it shows they know the difference between being unique and a mere novelty. ~ Heather Phares