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 […]
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God bless metal
On Saturday, the Becoming the Archetype that steps onto The Conservatory stage on Saturday won’t resemble the one that first did so back in 1999. The last founding member left in 2011, making songwriter/guitarist/singer Seth Hecox the most tenured member, having joined in 2004. The Atlanta act looks to have eternal life, regardless. “Perseverance is […]
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Here for the party
A lot of singers are more than happy to release an album every two years, maybe once a year if they’re especially fastidious. But for Gretchen Wilson, that’s not good enough. This year alone, she’s releasing three (her latest, Right on Time, dropped April 2) while embarking on a tour. This, mind you, is all […]
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Bright stripes
The Grizzlies aren’t the only Memphians laying tracks in Oklahoma City this summer. Garage rock’s Tiger High — the name being a nod to the city’s university — brings Memphis along everywhere it goes, including Monday’s stop at Kamps 1310 Lounge. “[Memphis] is a huge influence on us,” said drummer Greg Roberson. “There have been […]
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Big Worm — Bench All-Stars
His music is so far removed from the East Coast/West Coast style of hip-hop that with each subsequent release, Oklahoma rappers are forging their own coast — Red Dirt Coast, if you will. After spinning this album, I’m pretty sure Worm could be the mayor of the Red Dirt Coast. And why not? With their […]
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Eureeka — Polysynthetic Fields
The record opens, appropriately, with what sounds like a garbled FM transmitter over some pillowy synth pads, eventually yielding to a pulsating dance rhythm and a hypnotic bass fuzz. The duo dabbles in the nostalgia of ’90s electronica throughout the EP’s 28-plus minutes, but it maintains an experimental edge and just enough peculiarity to keep […]
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Tom Skinner — Tom Skinner
With this in mind, what makes Tom Skinner’s self-titled album work so beautifully is that it’s chock-full of sincerity — and real sincerity, not manufactured. Sounding like the perfect soundtrack to driving Oklahoma back roads in the summer — windows down, radio way too loud — Skinner evokes shades of alt-roots artists Tom Russell, Greg […]
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On the Fritz
Songwriters draw their inspiration from a variety of things. Current events and relationships are usually high on the list, but things that make us laugh don’t typically scream, “Write a song about me.” Yet they do to Jonny Fritz, the Nashville-based singer-songwriter formerly known as Jonny Corndawg. He plays Thursday at Opolis. Fritz’s eccentric brand […]
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Prettyboy — Dejvická
Abello long has been one of the most talented pure vocalists the state has to offer, but after dabbling in indie folk for a few years (and Christian music in his teens), he’s fully embraced what is an obvious penchant for ’80s-soaked pop tunes. It suits him well. Recorded in the Czech Republic, the two-track […]