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Yo ho ho and a flagon of rum

The band’s persistence resulted in a recording contract with Side One Dummy records (Irish punks Flogging Molly are label-mates) and a spot on Vans Warped Tour after a parking lot audition for Warped Tour owner Kevin Lyman. Its debut album, Forge & Flagon, came out in 2012. Band members went on to play their self-described […]

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Wise guy

Photo: Samantha Lamb For all the talk of Oklahoma singer-songwriter Parker Millsap and his Pentecostal roots, there’s a point that gets glossed over along the way. People note that gruff howl of a voice rumbling out of his gut with a tent-revival vigor equal parts fire-and-brimstone and piss-and-vinegar. Millsap himself nods to those Sunday morning […]

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Break point

Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore — the married couple behind Denver indie pop act Tennis — didn’t expect much to come of the humble band the two formed after a seven-month sailing trip; they expected nothing, to be precise. “When we were starting out, we didn’t have any plans or ambition to turn this into […]

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Wax poetic

When Oklahoma City indie outfit Bored Wax was looking for a name, it decided to pay homage to its three loves: surf rock, wordplay and indifference. “We were all listening to older surf and punk music, and this name kind of popped up,” singer and guitarist Billy Muschinske said. “We thought we’d change the spelling […]

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Ziggy Stardeath

Throughout rock and roll lore, there are stories of bands breaking away from familial bonds to create identities of their own. However, even though local freakout artists Stardeath and White Dwarfs are closely related to The Flaming Lips — lead singer Dennis Coyne is Wayne Coyne’s nephew — it’s a shadow that the band is more […]

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Bottle shock

Photo: Chris J. Zähller To the general public, the current face of country music is dominated by GQ models with chiseled, square jaws who are more proud of their frosted tips and designer Western-wear than their music. But not the outlaws of Norman’s Empty Bottles. Not now, not ever. “As a personal preference, I just […]

Posted inArts & Culture

The art of Noise

We all know the old adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” But how often is it the cover art that reaches out from the shelf and grabs you? How often are we unsurprised to find that the artwork on an album’s packaging perfectly meshes with the music locked inside? Celebrating that relationship […]

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Que sera, Sera

Photo: Hilary Harris Famed label Sub Pop is best known for its roster of alternative rock acts, ranging from classic grunge acts like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney to new hipster favorites like Obits, Mogwai and Dum Dum Girls, so it’s strange to see a folk/country act in their roster. Sera Cahoone takes total pride in […]

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