Given the silly name and bright, Simon & Garfunkel-inspired harmonies, Brooklyn folk-rock act Girlyman sounds like it was born out of a happy place. The thing is, it wasn’t. “Our first rehearsal was scheduled for Sept. 11. We were putting together press kits and complaining about how crappy doing it was … what an upstream […]
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Pairadime shift
In early 2010, brothers Gray and Baylor Thomas, along with friend Dan Sewell, started Pairadime as a music blog, which they still operate. The idea was to have an outlet for the music they liked, not imagining the growth it’s seen. “It’s been an absolute trip. We did not start out with this in mind,” […]
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The Weeknd — Echoes of Silence
Not so fast! “Echoes of Silence” continues with the cadre of really sad characters (such as the poor girl working “for your face-lift” on “XO/The Host”) in really sad, sexually exploitive situations spelled out on The Weeknd’s first two mixtapes, without adding many new elements to that signature hazy, narcotized atmosphere of industrial beats and […]
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Peer review
Zach Winters, solo singer-songwriter: Brian Payne — “Pingree Park Sessions” EPPayne’s new EP descends from the Colorado mountains with freshness and the scent of aspens. His folky textures and words brood and whisper the familiar longings of man. In “Winter Has No Room” and “Yet I Remain,” Payne carves out rivers, roots and seasons with […]
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Bright light, big sound
The story behind Austin’s four-piece The Bright Light Social Hour reads something like that of the fictitious band Spinal Tap. Consider this: Three of the four Bright Light Social Hour members boast impressive facial hair, with front man Jack O’Brien’s comically large vaudevillian mustache topping them all. The drummer was plucked out of a high […]
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Swap meet
It’s rare to witness six high-caliber performers share the stage on a given night, even more so at the exact same time. But Opolis’ Saturday Song Swap features six standout Oklahoma musical artists collaborating on one another’s songs, with the performers delicately adding their own little flourish to their colleagues’ ditties. “Everybody’s mic and guitar […]
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Jackpot jukebox
“It amazes me just how many people are still into Elvis,” said Mike Black, an Elvis Presley impersonator. Black has donned the ’70s-era Elvis wardrobe for years, crooning for poker players as a side gig to his band, Mike Black and the Stingrays. “It’s not just the old people, but also the younger people,” he […]
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Noisy Baby
History doesn’t foretell too much in the case of Baby Tears. The noise-rock trio from Omaha, Neb., possesses an unpredictable track record of gigs that makes it impossible to pinpoint exactly where the next one will go. “There is no typical show with us,” said guitarist/vocalist Todd VonStup. “It’s unstructured in a good sense. Sometimes […]
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The Del Toros — Young Blood Rising
The group’s second effort, “Young Blood Rising,” rekindles that handsome, blue-eyed pop-blues-rock storytelling that singer Dave Rumsey’s good for; and the band steps forward with a confident swagger of knowing it has a couple of great anthemic lyrics and badass guitar solos stashed away for later. The Del Toros spread that good, hooky stuff nice […]
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Good King Friday — Good King Friday
Good King Friday is the product of a collaboration between OU music professor Christina Giacona, some childhood friends in Los Angeles, former OU students Patrick Conlon and Audrey Snyder (hailing from Canada and Chicago, respectively) and lyricist Matt Kolbet, the brother-in-law of bassist Nathan Caswell. It’s remarkable that an album by such a far-spread ensemble […]