Selected for Click 2024 No. 10: Buyo Omega

Since Buyo Omega’s name comes from a ’70s Italian horror film about a taxidermist who experiences bouts of madness after the death of his girlfriend, you’d think the members of this Twin Cities five would have some kind of strong personal connection to the film. “It’s not like that,” chuckles guitarist Nikki Derella. Only their singer Greer saw this.

“She keeps trying to get us all together to watch it,” Derella explains, “but our drummer isn’t really into movies.”

In addition to Greer and Derella, Buio Omega consists of Matt Jones (guitar), Midge (bass) and Josh Olson (drums). Jones and Olson previously played together in Close Talker; Jones’ partner was roommates with Midge (formerly of Liquid Lunch and other local bands); and Greer were just spotted at a house show in an “incredible outfit” in 2022 when Jones approached and asked if she wanted to be in the band. Derella had just moved here from Florida, but knew Jones from a festival they played together in Iowa back in the 2010s and met Greer at Punk Baseball in Powderhorn.

While their tastes in Italian horror may not be entirely the same, Derella and their bandmates have very different tastes. other common interests. Greer and Derella bonded early on over their shared love of professional wrestling, and Greer wrote the song “Insult to Injury”, which appeared on Buio Omega’s debut EP. Take a lookabout the cage fight between Aja Kong and Bull Nakano in 1990 in Japan. (“We actually had a link to the YouTube video in the information on our BandCamp,” Derella laughs.)

Professional wrestling, especially women’s professional wrestling, and especially this legendarily brutal cage fight may help you make sense of everything that’s going on with Buyo Omega. It’s swagger, gender characteristics, daring, camp.

On “Take a Look,” Greer screams, “Tuck your tail between your legs and hide / YOU’RE A COWARD AND IT’S SHOWING / FIGHT OR FLIGHT, BITCH / I KNOW WHICH PATH YOU’LL GO.” (Can’t you hear her cutting the promo before Monday Night RAW?) “Bad Taste” squeals with the excitement of chains and spikes, while “I Wanna Crash My Car (on Purpose)” is a crowd favorite… well, that’s pretty self-explanatory, isn’t it? Sex, meanness, self-destruction – throw it all into a blender with 80s glam makeup. and a chainsawand you have the Buio Omega EP. It’s all id here, baby.

Well maybe not All. “Diva Moment”, the title track and the opening track for Buio Omega. latest five song EPhas a “funny-sad origin” that begins with Luis, Derella’s roommate and Greer’s close friend, committing suicide. A few weeks later, they were on First Avenue at Wrestlepalooza, where F1rst Wrestling’s Arik Cannon was talking about Louis on stage; Upon hearing this, Greer began to sob. She cried so hard that when she checked her phone, she saw a message from a stranger whose boyfriend had seen her and was worried if she was okay.

Greer responded, howling throughout the fast-paced one-minute, 33-second track, “This is just a diva moment.”

Explore the entire Picked to Click class of 2024 below..