Ohio has produced so many good garage and post-punk bands in the past few decades, picking a list of the best would be close to impossible. But one thing’s certain: Lamont “Bim” Thomas would show up a lot. He’s played drums in V-3, Bassholes, the Unholy Two, This Moment in Black History, and Puffy Aerolas; the latter two still enlist his services regularly. But his most important project is turning out to be one he does on his own. In just three years he’s cranked out three albums and a bunch of EPs and singles as Obnox, pouring his experiences, influences, and considerable energies into burning-red noise-punk blasts.
Obnox has been prolific because Thomas works quickly. His 2011 debut I’m Bleeding Now was recorded on his own four-track in a week, and subsequent releasess have followed suit. ("I just bang it out fast, like the record business used to be,” he once said.) I’d bet it didn’t take him a ton of time to put together Louder Space either, but there was one significant difference in the way it was made: as the title implies, Thomas recorded for the first time in a studio, Columbus’ legendary Musicol.
The timing of this move was perfect, as Thomas’ songs have gotten wider and deeper, and thus ripe for being rendered in finer detail. In other words, he was ready for his close-up. But sharper clarity doesn’t lessen the abrasive thrust of Obnox’s attack. He’s still painting in, as he describes it, “sheets of rhythm,” and Louder Space is piled high with them. Those layers are even more powerful when you can sift through them carefully. Part of the fun of listening to Obnox in higher-res is how easy it is to focus on a blazing guitar line here or a detonating drum beat there, without losing sight of Thomas’ forest-sized din.
That din is more surprise-filled than before, due to Thomas exploring more of his musical obsessions. Louder Space is based in punk rock, but he continually leaps from that center toward less expected modes. So on “Red I”, soulful horns are buried under guitar fuzz; on “Molecule”, chopped-up metal chords buttress a chant; and on “Raindrops”, grunge riffs slide under sugared vocals. Most noticeably, Thomas’ love for hip-hop and R&B shines through all the buzzing churn. The wiry guitar loop of “How to Rob (The Punk Years)” could circle a Public Enemy tune, while “Bitch! Get Money!” hides a funk saunter inside its frantic amp-bleed. There’s even a gospel tint to the album’s only slow song, a near-ballad bluntly titled “Feeling Real Black Today.”
Thomas’ style-melding is so smooth, it gives Louder Space a sheen of confidence. His music has never exactly been shy, but here he sounds like he knows he’s reached a new plane and isn’t afraid to say so. “You never find a fuckin’ ounce of fat on me!” he insists at one point; later, he chants posi-mantras in “Mecca Son Shine”—“Gotta chase my own glory/ Gotta write my own story/ Gotta grind my own dollars/ Gotta solve my own problems”—as if his brain is pumping iron. His throat does calisthenics too: Thomas jumps his voice through hoops, crooning, rapping, and ranting in perpetual call-and-response with himself.
All of this may make Louder Space sound like brazen boasting, and at times it is. But Thomas’ boldness is more about assured self-confidence—more about belief in his own sonic mission—than vain puffing of feathers. And besides, he's earned the right to stick out his chest a bit. Louder Space transcends not only his previous work, but much of the scene that he’s ensconced in. That makes it something worth bragging about.
