OKLAHOMA CITY – There’s been more than a bit of controversy, contentiousness, tragedy, and outright anger in our country lately, with a particularly concerning saga even playing out in rapid time right here in our city through last week.
But no matter how dark the world gets, we look to music for the energy and expression that we need to keep going, sometimes in the form of defiant punk rock or protest songs and sometimes in the form of high-energy psych-up tracks to ready ourselves for action.
But there can also still be room for fun and for the kinds of tracks that turn up the volume on our hearts, our confidence, and our spirits.
Sometimes you need a tight, riff-heavy emo track, a bouncing alt-pop jam, or a self-esteem boosting hip-hop anthem.
And there’s a new Oklahoman track for each one
red sun – ‘Let It Rip!’
A crash and a full-throated, staccato palm-muting riff herald this monster single from the month’s most anticipated OKC emo release.
High-energy, higher-emotion rockers red sun have been teasing the drop of their debut full-length effort “At Their Very Best” for awhile now, and it’s finally arrived in all its gleaming pop-punk glory, full of sharp leads, laser-focused production, and all the dual-vocal belting you can handle.
After the acoustic build and alt-rock announcement of opening track “Intro,” the guys dive headlong into “Let It Rip!” and crank up the intensity a well as the playfulness and the willingness to stretch themselves creatively.
Kicking off with the now-requisite angular emo riffing and a vocal melody that feels like equal parts blink-182 and Danish art-rockers Mew, they take the whole thing up through a megaton, singalong chorus.
But then they break it down into a rolling, decelerating bridge that slows and solidifies before exploding into a burst of loose, barely-contained energy and an unexpected, fast-sung outro, keeping your ears on their toes for all of its shockingly condensed two-minutes-and-change.
It’s a great indication of why red sun are breaking so big on the emo scene, and of what kind of energy you can expect from the album’s official release show that’ll hit the Resonant Head stage March 13th after it was rescheduled for the snow storm.
Pineapple Willows – ‘Got Away, Got Away’
One of the most intriguing and compellingly unique pop-rock acts that OKC has seen in years, Pineapple Willows return after a bit of a break with this left-field bit of infectious song-smithing.
Opening with a quirky, descending lead-and-bass riff that could just as easily come from something like Dirty Projectors or early Talking Heads, “Got Away, Got Away” then opens up into a head-bobbing bop of pop-rock, but with an underlying ready-to-explode energy that keeps it all barreling forward.
Beneath singer Dante Frame’s soulful, grooving croon, there’s a wholly chaotic bed of fuzzy guitars, spiky leads, and a relentlessly energetic bassline that walks up and down the song with the near-free-form adventurousness of John Entwistle.
Even the immediately catchy chorus throws an unexpected element into the mix with a cleverly stuttering drum-fill foundation that openly rejects the tired, easy four-count beat in favor of something much more attractive.
It’s a great reminder of something poppy and hook-filled can still feel surprising and risky, and I only hope Pineapple Willows won’t keep us waiting so long for the next single this time.
Alan Doyle – ‘Rah Rah’
There’s still something so enjoyable about the simple pleasure of a rapper casting off pretense and contrivance and just rapping about how good they are at rapping, and Tulsa hip-hop veteran Alan Doyle has the longevity and scene stamina to back it up.
Doyle (aka The Number 4) unveiled his full-length “FOURMAT” all the way back in April of last year, but he’s kept the singles dropping and just graced us with a video and a new push for album track “Rah Rah.”
Over a no-frills big beat and a horn-loaded fanfare, Doyle spins his turns-of-phrase and deep cut references dropping nods to everything from “Jeopardy!” and Keith Sweat to long-forgotten late-90s alt-rockers Fastball.
The hook is all about the cheer-style “rah rah sis boom bah,” making the track as much a rallying anthem for Doyle as for confident, old school hip-hop itself.
You can find out about local music and performance happenings in the OKC metro weekly in this music column by Brett Fieldcamp. | Brought to you by True Sky Credit Union.
Brett Fieldcamp is our Arts and Entertainment Editor. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for 15+ years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
