Forged in the fires of the Butterfields last year, Yeoman’s Omen is an amalgamation of rock, folk, and funk, and is the brainchild of Gabe Greenberg ’14, Noah Rush ’14, Nate Repasz ’14, and Julian Gal ’14.  The quartet, which features Greenberg and Rush on guitar and vocals, Repasz on drums, and Gal on bass, plays their first show of the year this Saturday at Buddhist House, with newcomers Featherwood Bee and campus favorite Almonds and Elephants. After a few months of practice, Yeoman’s Omen is ready to open the semester with new songs and a more refined style, keeping up the catchy rhythms, funky bass lines, and odd yet endearing lyrics.

The sound is ever-shifting, incorporating wildly disparate influences and prompting several different descriptions from the band members themselves.

“Funk rock with world influence,” Repasz said.

Gal added, “Rock is definitely the most dominant element.”

“There’s some folk influences, some jazz,” Greenberg said. “We like to keep it fresh.”

The confusion over exactly what to call its sound has been a theme throughout the band’s career.

“At different times, its been different things,” Rush said. “Right now, there’s definitely a lot of funk. I think pop was more our earlier stuff, and I think we got a funk thing going on right now.”

“We’re a rock band,” Repasz said.

This band is headed up by principal songwriters Greenberg and Rush, who are also the founders.

“It was that first magical moment in the Butthole,” Rush said, recounting the story of the creation of Yeoman’s Omen. “Me and Gabe met and then decided to jam. We played a bunch of open mics that didn’t go so well.”

One of their most memorable open mic disasters was when Rush cut his finger on a guitar string mid-set and started bleeding. According to Repasz, he was spraying blood.

Despite the gore, Greenberg and Rush managed to recruit Repasz after a Halloween jam session. But the band was still not complete.

“Then Julian came along and changed everything with his good looks and charm,” Repasz said.  “He’s pretty good at bass too.”

With the addition of Gal, and after a lengthy debate over band names, Yeoman’s Omen was officially formed.

“Noah and Gabe will basically just play [their new songs] over and over again and we’ll make suggestions,” Gal explained.

However, his fellow band members claim Gal has another special role in the band: he is the “funkmachine.”

“When me and Gabe started we were pretty shitty musicians,” Rush said. “Now we’re a little better and we’re trying to show that through the songs more.”

So it looks like we can expect some new stuff out of the irreverent funk-folk-jazz-rock hybrid. The band’s music has been changing, and they all agree that it’s for the better. They are working on more complicated and multifaceted songs, and expanding away from their original pop sound.

“We have a lot of influences that are more serious and I think we have a lot of new stuff that will show that,” Rush said.

But don’t worry—the head-banging, catchy choruses that you know and love from last year will still be there.

“We like to get them jumping,” Repasz said.

This is especially relevant when you consider the band’s instantaneous, unanimous answer when asked who their target audience is: girls, preferably aged 18-24,  and 80-84.

“We love our grandmas,” Greenberg said.

So, if you love jumping, grandmas, and jumping grandmas, check Buddhist House at 10 p.m. this Saturday for Yeoman’s Omen’s first show of the year. Get there on time to catch opener Featherwood Bee and stay all night for Almonds and Elephants. Why does the band think you should come?

“It’s a great location,” Greenberg said. “Carpeted.”