Sleek and stylish electro duo The Deer Tracks is about as overtly Swedish as a certain chef from The Muppets, which means the blood coursing through the two members’ veins all but guarantees they construct ridiculously infectious pop music far more sturdy than an IKEA shelving unit. In fact, they do. The two — singer/chanteuse […]
Pop
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Mac ’n’ cheese
Photo: Brad Elterman Things can move pretty fast — faster than you want, sometimes. Just 22, Canadian garage rocker Mac DeMarco recorded his 2012 debut EP, Rock and Roll Nightclub, as a personal, private experiment of Ramones-influenced power pop slowed to a creep, and brandished the cover with a lipstick-smearing selfie. An unexpected hit, it […]
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Clip art
“If you really want to make something happen for yourself, you can’t wait around thinking,” said Nik Harper. “Just go out and make what you want. That’s literally all we did. We’re really lucky that people liked what we were doing.” Their video for Philadelphia rapper Lushlife’s “Magnolia” (see below), selected to be showcased at […]
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Amanda Earhart — Tell Me What You Want
Her debut EP, Tell Me What You Want, is characterized by funky, bright instrumentation with a mellow groove that harkens back to an age before Auto-Tune. Born and raised in Oklahoma City, Earhart shows off an impressive vocal range throughout the six songs. Whether she’s singing low and level, like in “Tell Me What You […]
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In a ‘Huff’
Photo: Nathan Poppe A band’s first tour is a necessary evil. The drives are long; the rides … uncomfortable. It’s cheap beer and cheaper food with little to no sleep, just to play for maybe a couple of handfuls of people, returning home with not a dime in the members’ collective pockets. Oklahoma City outfit […]
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Music explosion
Most bands never get the chance to meet their musical heroes. The dudes of Diarrhea Planet get to hang out with theirs on a near-daily basis. “Right when I started school in Nashville, I went out to a club and watched Jeff the Brotherhood play. It blew my mind,” guitarist Emmett Miller said. “I wanted […]
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Boner jams
Not many bands look forward to their first trip to Oklahoma as much as Fort Worth, Texas’ Skeleton Coast … although a quick listen to its spotless, self-titled debut is telling. The hazy, textured and delightfully out-there disc owes a certain debt to Oklahoma’s native sons The Flaming Lips, whom front man Bobby McCubbins notes […]
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Laura Leighe — The Laura Leighe EP
But it’s not like there isn’t good pop music being made, and one of the brighter spots is the angel-faced and -voiced Duncan native Laura Leighe, who seems more concerned with connecting to her listeners than selling them a product. Her EP’s opener, “Find Me,” is a saucy and masterfully produced single with a clever […]
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Parker Millsap can’t lose
Parker Millsap is a classic case of a voice not fitting the person from whom it emerges. Slight, squeaky-clean and still somewhat baby-faced, Millsap is a sharp dresser — often sporting a bow tie, button-down shirt and cardigan — and near-constantly shadowed by his rambunctious, black-and-white mutt, Mavis. It’s the sort of dapper wholesomeness of […]
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Tiger would
Everyone in their mid-20s to 30s arguably carries a certain guilty pleasure for the pop-punk and pre-guyliner emo tunes of the likes of Taking Back Sunday, Brand New and Blink-182. Oklahoma City’s own Tiger Lily is more upfront about its appreciation. Luckily, a new generation of bands, including The Wonder Years and The Story So […]