For the guys of the Nashville-based Blacklist Royals, 2012 was a bad year. “2011 was really good for us,” said Nat Rufus, lead singer and guitarist, noting the group was coming off its debut disc and the Warped Tour. “And then 2012 happened. We had all these new songs written and the plan was to […]
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Horse Thief — Grow Deep, Grow Wild
Horse Thief is not a psychedelic folk band, like its members want you to believe; the Oklahoma City quintet plays trendy indie pop with some earthy guitar tones and lyrics that occasionally make mention of geography. Self-affixed or otherwise, labels aren’t necessarily indicative of artistic worth, yet framework and context are crucial in determining whether […]
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Tony Romanello and the Black Jackets — Pleased to Meet Us
Sure, Romanello doesn’t have the gravitas of a Westerberg and Stinson, but he doesn’t need to. Those guys have already paved the road; let’s just let Tony and the Black Jackets drive on it. “The Way It Goes” is a good intro to the group, and a song I’m sure kills live, with its intonations […]
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Portraiture — Real as Ritual
From the gorgeous guitar on the instrumental “Miami Weiss (Part I)” (coming off like The Cure’s poppiest song to date) to “I Studied for the Drug Test” (with such biting observations, I’m sure it’s what Morrissey would sound like if raised on an Okie diet of steak and potatoes), Siler’s solo debut is unique to […]
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Beaming with blues
America’s musical roots are entrenched firmly in the blues. From the field hollers of slaves to the guttural Southern gospel of the late 19th century, early blues drew upon feelings and sounds that later paved the way for much of today’s popular music. It’s appropriate, then, that Luella and the Sun hail from Nashville, Tenn., […]
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The Flaming Lips — The Terror
In it, he detailed — with a vague, yet purposeful candor — the internal struggles endured by both he and his bandmates, ruminating on a metaphysical desire for control over one’s life and, conversely, the self-inflicted, masochistic chaos that can often accompany it. These pleas for understanding, he ultimately concluded, were nothing but exercises in […]
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Taddy Porter — Stay Golden
Grammy winner Mark Neill (the man behind The Black Keys’ Brothers) co-produced Stay Golden with Dave Cobb (Jamey Johnson, Shooter Jennings), and that firepower shows. Stay Golden isn’t fool’s gold. It’s the real deal. It begins with “Changes,” a brilliant, self-knowing nod to the group’s new direction that moves with a cocky walk. “The Gun” […]
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The Hitt Boyz — AlphaCat
While it’s not exactly clear whether this Oklahoma City quartet is hopelessly self-aware or merely revels in modest drollery, what is clear is that AlphaCat sounds nothing like you’d expect — which is to say, it’s actually pretty damn good. Clocking in at just under 11 minutes, it consists of only three tracks: “Best Catt,” […]
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Range rovers
When Ruth Smith and Derek Kutzer began making music together as Blackstone Rangers in 2011, they didn’t know what kind to make. Today, the now-trio — with the addition of multi-instrumentalist Daniel Bornhorst — still, proudly, doesn’t know. “We haven’t honed in on our sound, and I don’t think that we should, honestly,” Smith said. […]
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Out with a Bang
Photo: Doug Schwarz Oklahoma City punk-rock outfit The Boom Bang is headed to the big glass house in the sky, exiting this world in a blaze of smoke bombs, cheap beer, broken glass and partial male nudity. Pizza cookers, firework vendors and local music fans alike mourn the loss of one of the greatest live […]