Photo: Michael Raiden Wiley Merrell is a man of many names. The Moore rapper is billed as Wildcat, but he used another as the title to his solo debut, MTLMTH. “MTLMTH is one of my many nicknames. I used to have braces. Like, it looked crazy,” Merrell said, laughing. “When I got them off, we […]
Opolis
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Dear Dad
Garage-pop duo Dadrock had a bloody good time during its debut Opolis performance roughly a year ago. “I was horribly sick that day and took too much Mucinex, which gave me a massive nosebleed right as we were doing soundcheck,” singer/ guitarist Kevin Lough said. “I was in the bathroom nearly passing out while [drummer […]
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Felt up
Rock bands and puppets: two peas in a pod, right? Sure, these art forms might seem contradictory on the surface. But on Friday at Opolis, the spectacle of Quintron and Miss Pussycat — half puppet show, half concert — will take this notion and obliterate it. The New Orleans-based husband and wife bear a unique […]
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Future’s so bright
Imagine for a moment that you’re perched atop a pristine body of water. As you gaze downward, ripples contort the natural world, and all of your tangible surroundings seem strangely elusive and engulfed in fantasy. The other side of that reflection? The world in which Future Islands live. Appearing tonight at Opolis, the Baltimore trio […]
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Movin’ Melvins
The Melvins aren’t the household name they deserve to be. Hopefully, time will favor the American rockers, but if not, at least they will go down in the record books: Appearing Saturday at Opolis, the Melvins are in the midst of becoming the first band to play all 50 states (plus Washington, D.C.) in 51 […]
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Dan Deacon — America
With America, we can add “thoughtful” and “poignant” to the mix. A bundle of goofy energy in a Technicolor Cosby sweater, Deacon long felt like the class clown who would never threaten to grow up especially in Spiderman of the Rings and Meetle Mice. There was some growth in 2009’s Bromst, to be sure, but […]
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Red-hot rock
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 […]
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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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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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Tuff enuff
Few album covers capture a sound as well as King Tuff did on his self-titled disc in May: A demonic bat clutches a Gibson guitar in one claw, a wizard’s wand in the other, with “King Tuff” scrawled across the creature’s chest in a font that merges “Puff, the Magic Dragon” with The Dark Crystal. […]