Thursday 20 Jun
 
 

Kanye West — Yeezus

Try as you might, but there’s no escaping Kanye West. Turn on the TV, radio, computer — hell, take a stroll downtown and you might see his mug projected on the side of a building. It’s an undeniable fact of life in 2013: Kanye West is bigger than Buddha, Krishna and The Beatles (today, anyway) and he’ll be the first to let you know about it.
06/18/2013 | Comments 0

John Moreland — In the Throes

With the soul of a poet and the look of a Sons of Anarchy extra, Tulsa’s John Moreland has been gifted the sort of gravely, booming voice that does Bruce Springsteen proud and a similar understanding of the universal human experience. It’s made for some fantastic records — both as a solo artist and with his dissolved Black Gold Band — and In the Throes is his best yet.
06/19/2013 | Comments 0

Jumpship Astronaut — Lights Burn Out

Oklahoma has never been the haven for electronic rock music that it is for country, folk and, as of late, psychedelic pop, but from the sound of Lights Burn Out, Oklahoma City upstart Jumpship Astronaut seems intent on changing that.
06/12/2013 | Comments 0

Various artists — Reaching Out

Like so many Oklahomans, the local music scene has responded with generosity and grace in the wake of last month’s tragedy in Moore. In the weeks since, droves of local musicians have banded together for benefit concerts and radio marathons to raise funds for the relief effort, and with extraordinary results.
06/04/2013 | Comments 0

Progress in Color — Get Well

It’s been a long, bumpy ride for Glenpool’s Progress in Color, which saw a record deal with Epic evaporate before even one record could come of it, but it’s led the outfit to where it was supposed to be.
06/04/2013 | Comments 0
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Music

Killer, no filler


The Axe Murder Boyz perfect both their stage presence and brotherly connection.

Joshua Boydston July 6th, 2011  

Axe Murder Boyz with Mindshot, F.L.O.W.S. and more
6 p.m. Wednesay, July 13
The Conservatory
8911 N. Western
conservatoryokc.com 607-4805
$15-$20

Don’t expect to find a rift form within Denver duo Axe Murder Boyz; no diss tracks or fierce hip-hop feuds are in sight. The blood goes too deep.

Brothers James and Mike Garcia don’t even have struggles with sibling rivalry; success for one is success for both with this joint venture.

“People think we are twins, but we are actually a year apart,” James said. “We feed off each other really well. We can definitely read each other, always know where we are going with it on stage. It’s the perfect band scenario. Our band will never break up because we are brothers, you know?” They’ve been perfecting that stage presence and their brotherly connection on it since James was around nine; the hard-core rap duo came after the two played weddings and parties in a classic rock cover band with their other brother and father.

Then Mike discovered hip-hop from artists like Master P (“I have no idea what Mike likes about Master P. No hatin’,” James said, laughing), and an introduction to Insane Clown Posse convinced the two to ditch the rock setup and pick up a mike.

“ICP was just so different, crazy and fun to watch, all the way around,” James said. “We’ve been in love with rap and underground music ever since, and so we came up with the idea for the group when I was like 12. We’ve been in it almost as long as we’ve been listening to it.”

Early material stayed very true to the grim and grueling subject matter the original Juggalos were slinging out. As kids — the two were close to 16 when they started — the pair got a major kick out of the gross-out narratives. The faithful tribute shot Axe Murder Boyz out of the Mile High City with a spot opening for their heroes on tour, then landing on their label Psychopathic Records, and later on its sub-label Hatchet Hose.

Ten years, three children and their own production company later, the content has found a deeper, less violent nature.

“Back in the day, all we ever wanted to rap about was stalking and killing. It was really more about those sort of fantasies when we were younger,” James said. “Now that we are older, we have children, we’ve seen things and been on tour for almost half our lives. There’s more substance and soul to it. There’s more to life than kill, kill, murder, death, kill for us. It’s more than horror stories.”

That progress is seen in the band’s recently released mixtape “Strictly 4 The Scrubs,” and even more so in the soon-to-be released “The Garcia Brothers,” a testament to the pair’s relationship and continued growth, both lyrically and musically.

“There’s more guitar. It’s more musical, not so strictly rap beats. I enjoy the fact that it’s 14 songs, and there’s no filler, at least to me. It’s all killer, no filler ... one banger after another. I’ll usually comb back through our old albums and say we could have done better on a couple of tracks, but I haven’t felt like that yet.”

 
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