There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the freshman disc, especially since it leaked over a month ago. After just one listen, it becomes clear that Rocky has put together something special. Like Rocky’s popular mixtape, the similarly titled Live.Love.A$AP, this album features a collection of songs about everything from poverty and violence […]
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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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At bat
Curtis Grimes’ life reads like your classic country narrative: A promising baseball prospect ditches his chance at a shot in the big leagues for a girl, only to come away heartbroken a short while later. But instead of picking up the bottle, he picked up a guitar, and what sounds like the character in so […]
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Dewey Binns — High Character
Hailing from the decidedly unglamorous city of Lawton, Dewey Binns is the sort of blue-collar rapper everyone can get behind, but he’s just as book-smart as street-smart, as evidenced by this Steinbeck-esque collection of hip-hop vignettes. One gets the feeling that Binns rarely was satisfied with his first word choice, refining each line with the […]
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Michael Summers — More
Plus, I just like writing “Honky Cat.” This winning formula that has made Michael Summers the Michael Bublé of the 405 carries throughout the entirety of More. So slip on your finest cocktail dress, load up on olives and pour yourself a tumbler full of the perfectly blended tunes. “Secret Love Affair” is the way […]
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Dirty Red & the Soulshakers — Soul Shakin’
Opening with the innuendo-laden “Cornbread,” which makes you want to sop up all forms of sexual beans and greens, lead singer Eric “Dirty Red” McDaniel’s powerfully soul-drenched vocals and funky harmonica immediately let you know you’re in for a long, sweaty night. The pure, rolling thunder of “Shotgun,” with its impressionable refrain of “My shotgun […]
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Citizen Fred — Citizen Fred
After several listens, I’m still trying to process the idea behind it: Is the Oklahoma City act a joke band? Is it ironic art? Is it music to pump iron to? Or am I just overthinking it? Several songs are wonderfully hard-charged aggro-rockers that make you want to drive your beat-up ’Vette 110 miles per […]
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‘Hyde’ and shriek
Teal Wicks has it easy in Jekyll & Hyde — and not just because, unlike the musical’s star, she doesn’t have to fill two roles. No, playing Dr. Jekyll’s fiancée in the current national tour is a breeze because she’s not required to carry every scene. The actress spent the better part of 2011 being […]
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The Electric Primadonnas — Clergymen
The band snaps wide awake with Clergymen. The album sounds like the sort of surreal dreams the collective must have been having in the time leading up to last month’s release. Clergymen plays like a version of Alice in Wonderland painted in pastel watercolors: bold ideas and bolder actions portrayed by a watchful eye and […]
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Straight outta high school
“The name Kulprit D came from when I was walking through my old high school band room one day, and people were looking for me … and everyone was saying ‘Where is he, where is he?’ I walked through the door and they go, ‘There’s the culprit right there!’” said D, real name Dakoda Rollins. […]