Last Updated on January 18, 2023, 2:36 PM | Published: January 18, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — January can be a tough time for discovering new music. Most of us are just trying to recover from the holidays or get our heads around the newness of the year, and the ones that do like to deep dive into music are mostly still digging through all the best-of lists from last year’s end.
It can be easy to miss it when great new songs drop right after the ball does.
Luckily, some of OKC’s best are popping in early to give you just what you need, whether you’re trying to right the regrets of last year, begin the new one with a fresh sense of connection, or even just headbang the January blues away.
LABRYS – ‘I Can’t Win’
It’s not easy to make a bouncy, persistent pop beat feel at the same time sad and lonely, but “I Can’t Win,” the most recent drop from Penny Pitchlynn’s LABRYS, makes it sound effortless.
An ode to finding the strength needed to just give up and walk away when things aren’t working, “I Can’t Win” threads a seriously challenging needle between empowerment and outright depression. It’s an anthem for the first few weeks after a breakup when your friends keep dragging you out to concerts and clubs, when you want to dance, just not with anyone.
That impenetrable shell of self doubt in Pitchlynn’s lyrics is reflected in the thick, wooly guitar fuzz, providing the sharp-edged counterpoint to the bop beneath, all held together by Pitchlynn’s abilities as one of the strongest and most confident singers on the scene.
Follow LABRYS on Facebook and Instagram at @iamlabrys.
Finite Galaxy – ‘Kismat’
Finite Galaxy aren’t just one of the most exciting and creative acts in the OKC rap scene, they’re surely one of the most unique duos in the game anywhere thanks to their ability to mash up and meld some seriously unexpected combinations.
Lyrics alternate between English and Hindi, while beats and backing tracks combine elements of funk and electro with traditional worldbeat percussion and floating, ambient synth pads. Fold in some appropriately universal spiritualism and you have a recipe for some especially wild, experimental takes on hip-hop.
The duo’s newest single “Kismat” actually serves as something of a primer for all of those elements, somehow maintaining a meditative sparseness and heady focus above the syncopated wood-click backbeat and hypnotic, snaking bassline.
Follow Finite Galaxy on Facebook and Instagram at @finitegalaxy.
Limp Wizurdz (featuring S. Reidy) – ‘Plastic Moan’
Having been around and still able to recall the original era of driving pop-punk and rap-infused nu-metal, it admittedly still strikes me whenever I hear newer, recent acts not only pulling influence from that period, but arguably nailing those sounds and attitudes better than ever.
If you couldn’t tell from all the z’s in their name, Limp Wizurdz have some pretty clear affection for the 90s. After incorporating everything from skate-punk to grunge into 2019’s “Circles,” they push further into that most influential of recent decades on new single “Plastic Moan,” partnering with local alternative rapper S. Reidy to add a pinch of late-90s nu-metal.
It’s not just Reidy’s gate-crashing flow and rhymes on top of the wall-of-sound guitars that recall that shockingly resurging rap-rock sound, but also the tightness and power of the production here. The Wizurdz have never sounded more focused or urgent, and Reidy’s own wild-eyed, could-snap-at-any-moment energy fits perfectly with the band.
Follow Limp Wizurdz on Facebook and Instagram at @limpwizurdz and S. Reidy on Facebook and Instagram at @sdotreidy.
Plain Speak – ‘I Was a Flame’
Already respected veterans of the OK scene, Plain Speak may very well be hitting their songwriting stride and setting themselves up to be the next big break.
If “I Was a Flame” is any indication of what we can expect from March’s impending LP, then that breakout is going to be well-earned.
Long embraced by the state’s surging, collaborative emo scene, Plain Speak feel lately positioned to slough off whatever genre constraints have been leveled at them in favor of making perfectly realized, honest, textural pop-rock. With a much more “2000s indie” vibe than maybe ever before, “I Was a Flame” casts an undeniable shadow of the best, most introspective Shins or early Band of Horses efforts, not just in the remarkably reminiscent vocals, but in the comfortable spaciousness between the tight, angular chords.
Of course, given the band’s relation to local, experimentally minded effects pedal makers Old Blood Noise Endeavors, it’s no surprise that some of the freshest and most exciting moments in the new track come when the richly scrambled, untamed guitar textures are really let loose.
Follow Plain Speak on Facebook and Instagram at @plainspeakmusic.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 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.
