Just when you thought you were sick and tired of post-punk minimalist bands, a group like Omni restores faith in deliberately lo-fi rock music. Omni is sneaky good. Sure, they want you to think they’re not really trying — a detectable level of effort is so uncool — but hot damn! This trio sneaks in compositional tricks like Rush trying to fit in at CBGB after Alex Lifeson smoked weed for the first time with the dudes from Televison.

It makes sense when you find out the truth. These guys are veterans with thousands of stage hours invested in the craft. On guitar, it’s Frankie Boyles from Deerhunter; the bass and drums interlock so splendidly because it’s Philip Frobos and Billy Mitchell from Carnivores — both bands from Atlanta, GA. Their measures have extra counts all over the place, yet there’s not a wasted sound or syllable. If I had one word to describe the groove, it’s taut. Like a French braid on a bridesmaid.

Omni released their debut, Deluxe, earlier this month, and it’s sick. Listen to it right now if you take music seriously. While it’s downloading, read Frankie Boyles giving us the lowdown on the Dirty South while tipping his prog hand with a Vangelis reference, and recanting the time he got heckled by Billy Idol fans.

Hometown & homebase: Atlanta, GA

How did you all meet and what made you want to form a band together?

We’ve known each other for a long time. I used to be in a band called Balkans and we’d play shows with Billy and Philip’s band Carnivores. Omni came together really naturally. Philip and I had been casually writing songs together for a while. Once we had amassed a handful of songs, we figured we might as well play some shows. Billy moved back into town from Chicago and everything fell into place.

Your members were in Deerhunter and Carnivores — notable bands that had a distinct sound. What do you take from those acts and bring to Omni? And what would you say is the biggest difference between your old projects and Omni?

We never really thought much about our past projects when starting this band, which, I think is part of why we initially enjoyed doing it. We just sort of let whatever happen. I think that’s probably the biggest difference. With this band, we just let things happen.

Who are your biggest musical influences as a band?

Oh, there are many. A few we all share are Magazine, XTC, David Bowie, Devo and today, for me, The Turtles. Specifically their song “You Baby.”

How do you describe your music to someone who's never heard you before?

Sometimes I say we’re sort of a post-punk band. Usually I just say rock & roll. I always picture Chuck Berry.

Why are you called Omni?

We were in desperate need of a name and spent days, maybe weeks, shooting each other’s ideas down. Omni kept coming up and in the end it just seemed to fit.

Does being from Atlanta influence your music in big ways?

I’m not sure. I think so? I’ve lived in Atlanta my entire life so I really don’t have anything to compare it to. I do think our environment works its way into the music in a big way, wherever we might be. Our day-to-day experiences make the music what it is. I don't know.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Ah! Maybe WOO or Vangelis.

What do you do for fun?

We do all kinds of things. Make music, practice, eat food, eat pho, make food, watch movies, listen to music, swim, some of us go to yoga, converse, play shows.

What's the craziest thing that’s happened to Omni thus far?

Can’t think of anything too crazy right now. By some stroke of luck we were asked to open two shows for Billy Idol last year. A woman in the audience yelled "Four eyes!” at me. I wear glasses.

Why is your album called Deluxe? What does that mean? What themes were you working on when making it?

Philip came up with album title. It doesn’t really mean much of anything. The way the word itself sounds just seemed to fit the music. I think we were joking around about something having to do with box sets and deluxe versions of albums.

If you were a hashtag, what would you be?

#omnu

Do you remember the first song you ever wrote? 

I think I thought I had written a song only to realize that it was really just “Runaround Sue”... but really bad.

Do you have an awesome Myspace-related story as a musician?

Hmm, not all that awesome but I always really liked designing my band’s Myspace page. I could do that for hours.