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‘Mood Swings’ shows Okay Omen’s hard edge, easy chemistry

Four men in casual dress stand in front of a chain-link fence, trees and colorful bushes.
Ian Johnson

Every week, Milwaukee Music Premiere connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, head over to our Music Submission page to learn how.

Okay Omen’s propulsive, heavy sound has all the dynamic shifts to make their version of punk really pop and hit different. Folks who love deeply passionate artists like Metz, Young Widows and the like will find a relatable sonic groove to get into with this band, whose single “Mood Swings” we’re premiering today.

Okay Omen formed in early 2022 as members of Garden Home, Live Tetherball Tonight and Bunk Bed came together to just “jam and see where it goes.” Where it went was promising as they found themselves syncing up seamlessly in the practice space.

The then-trio just needed to snag a vocalist and did so in the most unusual way — noticing a video on Instagram of acquaintance Chase Hoffman singing a Foo Fighters song at a local karaoke night. They hit him up, and the rest is band history.

An album cover contains several drawings separated into boxes, including sunflowers, a country road and an astronaut.
Sam Szymborski
"So It Goes ..." album art.

Okay Omen released a debut single ("(in)sincere") in July 2022 and played their first show later that month. For their full-length, the band went to Ruthless & Toothless Studios in Racine and brought to fruition a seven-song body of work titled So It Goes….

As part of that collection, “Mood Swings” serves as the punchy climax to a dynamic roller coaster of emo- and shoegaze-inspired indie rock. Hoffman says he wrote the lyrics to reflect the vulnerable predicament of helplessness that fuels feelings of losing your grip on everything around you. How you cope with it, he adds, impacts your mental health.

Listen to “Mood Swings” on your listening device of choice — 88.9 on the radio and our mobile app, or on demand right at the top of this page.

You can also hear it on Okay Omen's debut album, which arrives Feb. 10 on streaming services everywhere and the group’s Bandcamp page. They’ll celebrate with a release show the following night at Anodyne on Bruce Street with Overhand, HUMID and Social Caterpillar.

88Nine Music Director | Radio Milwaukee