He moves through the 10-song collection with The Boss’ swagger, too, effortlessly swaying between fully fleshed folk-rock anthems and quiet, dirt-road ditties. “Nobody Gives a Damn About Songs” anymore marries a lament of the loss of substance with an impossibly catchy — and classically American — melody. “Blacklist” is just as powerful in its heartbreak, […]
Joshua Boydston
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Jumpship Astronaut — Lights Burn Out
There’s not an acoustic strum, hoot or holler to be found in the EP’s five offerings; instead, you’ll find cavernous ’80s synth landscapes, glitzy guitar hooks and an obvious penchant for catchy melodies, covering the full axis of electro-bent pop artists in the process. Standout track “Something to Outrun” does bear a striking resemblance to […]
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Migration formation
The Blue Door is hallowed ground for most folk artists, but The Stray Birds’ recent fixation on one of the listening room’s more recent products has the bluegrass trio that much more eager to make its debut there Thursday. “We got to meet and open for John Fullbright in Tulsa last summer. We are obsessed […]
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Good grief
Cory Chisel is a good man. The Wisconsin native committed to joining fellow folk heavyweights John Fullbright and Tony Lucca (among many others) at Saturday’s “Peace Love and Goodwill” show months ago, but when the tornadoes of May 19 and 20 touched down, the benefit turned its focus to supporting those whose lives were devastated, […]
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Progress in Color — Get Well
The trio has gone from emo poppers with New Wave underpinnings to the inverse, and it suits the band well, as evidenced by the slick Get Well EP. The cover of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” the quintessential post-punk ballad, is a good clue as to the direction in which Progress in Color […]
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Joe Average — The Lullaby Goodbye
The latest evidence of that is The Lullaby Goodbye. The newest project from OKC-by-way-of-Arkansas rapper Joe Average reads like the offspring of Kid Cudi and Citizen Cope, a soulful record that recalls Belize as much as Brooklyn. “The Reaching,” an assured bonfire ballad that sounds like the few moments before falling asleep, is bookended by […]
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Limber Limbs — Limber Limbs
The Oklahoma City indie-rock trio of Ben Bowlware, Derek Moore and Robert Riggs went by People, People back in 2010 when it released a full-length album of heady, orchestrated material. Although still texturally rich and sonically complex, this self-titled, four-track EP aims at your heart as much as it does your cranium. “Golden Rust” — […]
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Kick back
Of all the national touring acts coming through Oklahoma in the coming months, few can relate to the tragedy the state just experienced than the Dropkick Murphys, themselves barely more than a month removed from a disaster. “It’s clichéd, but Boston is a tough town and always has been,” drummer Matt Kelly said of April […]
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Sun rises
Ska music might have fallen out of the public eye since its mid-’90s heyday when The Mighty Mighty Bosstones briefly flirted with mainstream success and No Doubt’s ska-adjacent songs dominated radio, but Oklahoma City outfit Sunny Side Up is working to make sure the last horn hasn’t sounded. While the sextet started out simply trying […]
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Various artists — Never Give Up: Celebrating 10 Years of The Postal Service
With the 10th anniversary of Give Up — being celebrated with a re-release, festival headlining gigs and the first tour in nearly a decade, The Postal Service is right back at the forefront of indie music, so there’s no better time to pay tribute. Music blog Independent Clauses wrangled 22 different artists wanting to do […]