Samantha (Najarra Townsend, Me and You and Everyone We Know) learns this the — ahem — hard way, after drowning her inhibitions in vodka and letting them run free at a party where she’s roofied by a stranger (Simon Barrett, You’re Next). What happens in the few days that unfold thereafter are akin to scientist Seth Brundle in Cronenberg’s […]
release
Posted inMusic
Web and flow
Photo: Mark Hancock There’s a lyric from Josh Sallee’s new album, Know Society, in which the 26-year-old Oklahoma City rapper confronts this very issue: “Who is he?/ Is he who he sees?/ Is he everything that he ever liked or seen?/ Is the game of fame influencing?” The song — “TLD – Technologicallogicaldreams” — serves […]
Posted inNews
Life after prison
“You have fines and parole fees you have to pay when you are released from prison,” Smith said. “Without a job, it makes it even more difficult.” Smith isn’t alone. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ 2012 Annual Report states it released more than 34,000 state inmates over the past four years. To help those released […]
Posted inMusic
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 […]
Posted inMusic
Somerset West — Black Cloud
Coming off a lengthy hiatus, the band’s passionate take on rock music (lining up neatly alongside acts like Brand New, Taking Back Sunday and Manchester Orchestra) is back in vogue, thanks to the “emo revival” now in full swing. Black Cloud brings most of the same touchstones found in its 2010 release, The Golden Land, […]
Posted inMusic
Tallows — Memory Marrow
When Tallows’ two-song demo surfaced on their Bandcamp site last November, expectations mounted in anticipation for a proper full-length. This was understandable, given the promise exhibited by these four fresh-faced locals on both “Soft Water” and “Small Talk” (the aforementioned demo), songs that were staggering in their conceptual ambition. Nine months later, we have Memory […]
Posted inMusic
Sun rises
Ska music might have fallen out of the public eye since its mid-’90s heyday when The Mighty Mighty Bosstones briefly flirted with mainstream success and No Doubt’s ska-adjacent songs dominated radio, but Oklahoma City outfit Sunny Side Up is working to make sure the last horn hasn’t sounded. While the sextet started out simply trying […]
Posted inMusic
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,” […]
Posted inNews
‘Deep’ thoughts
(And how did we know it was a press release? Well, those two words were scrawled across the top with a squiggly line underneath for dramatic emphasis. We’re not certain who sent the release, but it was signed “The Children of the Enlightenment in Oklahoma.”) At first, we wondered if were nominated for another Joseph […]
Posted inMusic
Ugly no more
“We didn’t know if, when we broke up, these songs would ever get released,” said Colin Bray, guitarist for the band. “I’m really glad they did. I think they’re some of the best songs we’ve written.” The disc was recorded pre-breakup in the band members’ houses, and the cover was conceived by them and local […]