SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS 003: OMNIPOTENT YOUTH SOCIETY

Omnipotent Youth Society hails from Shijiazhuang, a nondescript provincial capital 170 miles south of Beijing. The town is an official sister city of Des Moines, Iowa and shares its reputation as a cultural vacuum. Back in the 90s, the band discovered music before the rock n’ roll canon could be downloaded off the Internet. They had "dakou" albums instead—chipped CDs and cassettes meant for recycling but sold illegally by street vendors.

Today Omnipotent Youth Society has become a mainstay of China's growing festival circuit, touring across the country and blowing the minds of young listeners for whom high-profile rock concerts remain few and far between. With sparse but elaborate instrumentation and dynamic flourishes that bely a predilection for post-rock, Omnipotent Youth Society draw from the alternative hits of the 90s to craft wistful rock songs. Though front man Dong Yaqian's lyrics deal with disillusionment and coming-of-age, the band's melodies retain a hopeful nostalgia.

Omnipotent Youth Society may not attack their instruments with the ferocity of their Chinese post-punk counterparts, but they boast a degree of polished musicianship often absent from the country's rock dives. Sometimes referred to as the group's secret weapon, trumpeter Shi Li adds pomp to the band's understated anthems.

In the summer of 2011 a self-titled second album was released on the band’s eponymous label, a bold move and a sign that the group's fan base will know exactly where to find them.