Last Updated on February 20, 2024, 9:45 AM | Published: February 20, 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — Much like the beloved “Portlandia” would have you believe, the dream of the 90s really is still alive in modern America, and it’s showing through right now in all of its plaid, baggy cargo-panted glory in some of the OKC music scene’s best recent releases.
Call it nostalgia, foreseeable influence, or just the natural, roughly 30-year cycle that all pop culture seems to operate on, but there is very clearly a massive 90s resurgence sweeping the nation, and that’s great news for local bands.
The music of the 90s was awesome, and there’s so much to pull from in the years between the hard-hitting, grumbling grunge that opened the decade and the boy bands and nu-metal that capped it off.
In the middle, we had everything from bouncing, propulsive post-punk, fuzz-drenched shoegaze, some of history’s best power-pop, and arguably the great Golden Age of skate-punk, all of which are represented fantastically in this slate of new local releases.
So throw on your best light-up sneakers and gel your hair up high, because these bands are taking us back to the last time things made any sense.
Bad Athlete – ‘Bad Athlete 2 EP’
As one of OKC’s favorite pop-rock posses, Bad Athlete have been dropping great tracks left and right for years in a consistent stream of singles, EPs, and full-lengths, but this one feels like a pretty direct successor to their 2018 debut.
Like that release, the new one is just four straightforward tracks of head-bopping, throwback fun, and college-radio-ready melodies spinning tales of teen heartbreak memories and ageless dreams of escape.
What’s new, however, is a crisper, clearer sound doing away with the lo-fi of many of their past releases and focusing firmly on an undeniable helping of the classic Weezer sound (the first two good albums, in particular,) with some tastily crunchy distorted power chords beneath the bops and harmonies.
If you’ve been left wanting ever since “Pinkerton,” and if you’ve already devoured everything from The Rentals, Bad Athlete have the next step that you’ve been needing with this EP.
“Bad Athlete 2” by Bad Athlete is streaming everywhere now.
Follow Bad Athlete online at facebook.com/badathlete and @bad_athlete on Instagram.
Major Good – ‘I Get By’
The debut single from one of the city’s newest entries into the indie-rock game, Major Good, is promised to be only a taste of many stylistic explorations and samplings that the band is working on.
Well, if they can pull off all of their other genre-benders as well as they nail 90s Pixies and Pavement on “I Get By,” then I’d say we’re all in for a treat.
With the bare-bones simplicity of a persistent, earworming, ever-so-slightly country-tinged guitar riff and requisite boom-crack backbeat, the Major Good guys announce themselves with all the off-kilter, left-of-the-dial power-pop weirdness that gave birth to the whole concept of “alternative rock” all those decades ago.
“I Get By” by Major Good is streaming now on Spotify.
Follow Major Good online at @majorgoodokc on Instagram and catch their debut show at Capitol Hill’s Resonant Head Saturday, February 24th.
Shed Club – ‘Hutchinson’
Shifting a bit from the reassuring, self-deprecating fun of alt-rock to something decidedly darker now.
Shed Club might be one of OKC’s most unexpectedly prolific young acts, and they’ve experimented with a handful of different sounds over the past few years, notably some particularly watery, shimmering dream pop and the occasional hushed, minimalist acoustic piece.
“Hutchinson” feels like a natural evolution, a little more mature and a lot more self-assured.
Here, they’re going full-on shoegaze, with dense, wooly, fuzzed-out guitars and a crashing beat opening up only periodically to some washy, chiming melodies beneath the vocal.
It’s a shockingly effective track made even more surprising by the fact that they accomplish everything they need to in just two solid minutes.
“Hutchinson” by Shed Club is streaming everywhere now.
Follow Shed Club online at facebook.com/shedclubok and @shedclub77 on Instagram.
Limp Wizurdz – ‘Drowned Out’ (Releases March 10th)
Limp Wizurdz may very well be the best at what they do in OKC, maybe in the whole state.
If you want some sneering and urgent skate-punk that harkens back to the sound’s manic, melodic heyday with just a little drop of emo mixed in, look no further.
Upcoming single “Drowned Out” may touch on a host of hyper-modern confusions and overwhelming doom-scrolling anxieties, but musically it would slot perfectly into the soundtrack for “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2,” and believe me when I say that’s legitimately high praise.
There’s something unexplainably comforting about this sound, even while it gets heavier and maybe even more hopeless the longer it goes. In fact, that’s kind of the point here, with the song zeroing in on the people (or even the sole person) that provide some kind of stabilizing force in the middle of the mayhem.
With the pop-punk resurgence primed to really explode any day now, the Wizurdz would have every right to kick the doors in and demand a seat at the table.
“Drowned Out” by Limp Wizurdz hits streaming services March 10th.
Follow Limp Wizurdz online at facebook.com/limpwizurdz and @limpwizurdz on Instagram.
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.
