Photo: Jason Tanaka Blaney When Ohio rock act Red Wanting Blue got booked to play Norman Music Festival this past spring, the band members worried about whether they’d be able to impress the crowd. “These people have seen everything,” lead singer Scott Terry said. “I’ve never been close to a tornado, but most of these […]
Joshua Boydston
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Animal Collective — Centipede HZ
In direct contrast to, say, Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective thrives on being inexact, and to come so close to re-creating the formula nonetheless is impressive. Centipede Hz is not half as catchy; nothing resembles “Summertime Clothes” or “My Girls,” save for “Applesauce.” What you’ve got instead are nearly a dozen jarring pop songs that split […]
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Oh, yeah
This fall’s co-headlining tour between Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees finds both acts in new territory. Longtime favorites of the underground garage-rock scene, the groups are far more used to playing in venues that double as closet-sized dive bars or warehouse backrooms, but as they begin to command more sizable crowds, they find themselves […]
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Depth test
Photo: Laura Raczkowski Owning a recording studio and heading a small, Oklahoma record label gives Chris Harris, front man of local shoegaze three-piece Depth & Current, a certain perspective on what it takes to survive in the world of independent music: Namely, adapt or die. To that end, the Norman-based “nightmare-pop” band decided to include […]
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We’ve been had
Coming up in the New York garage-rock revival of the early 2000s with bands like The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Interpol, The Walkmen have stepped out of the past decade looking no worse for the wear. Unlike most of their peers, the group has put out one critically acclaimed album after another, emerging as […]
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Matt Stansberry & the Romance — Let’s Brighten It Up
The brilliant new nine-player band brings all sorts of new layers to the formula. Stansberry’s melodies are good enough to stand on their own; the backing vocals, horn section and keys add another dimension to his sound. The title track bridges the gap between ’50s pop and soul, beaming like sunshine with a good amount […]
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Shadow of no doubt
Photo: Alex John Beck George Lewis Jr. — the New York City-based New Wave musician who performs as Twin Shadow — is in a different place than he was in the time surrounding the release of his 2010 debut, Forget. Touring behind that record found him abusing drugs, canceling some shows and waking up in […]
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In orbit
Photo: Chris Phelps In the winter of 2010, things were looking pretty good for Austin, Texas’ The Rocketboys. Then half the altrock sextet walked out, worn out and abused from the exhausting tour schedule that got them to that point. The Rocketboys looked doomed to crash and burn. “There was a lot of not knowing […]
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Cosmostanza — Rad Vibes
Other music is just a hell of a lot of fun. Oklahoma City garage-rock duo Cosmostanza falls into the latter category with its debut EP, Rad Vibes, which is as gnarly as the title would suggest. The record is charmingly lo-fi and jam-packed with just as much promise as young, nervy energy. Rad Vibes finds […]
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Mayhem fest
Oklahoma City outfit Chronicles of Mayhem isn’t like most metal bands. The four-piece is just about as concerned with shaking your hips as melting your face. “I like music that is accessible. There’s great music that is so highly technical and impressive because of that musicianship, but it can get lost in the crowd,” guitarist […]