Tuesday 21 May
 
 
CD reviews

Various artists — Never Give Up: Celebrating 10 Years of The Postal Service

Few indie bands have had the impact on current music that The Postal Service has. Even fewer have done so with only one album.
05/15/2013 | Comments 0

Big Worm — Bench All-Stars

Fans of the comedy classic Friday may recognize the name Big Worm, but the Big Worm behind Bench All-Stars is rooted not in South Central L.A., but on the streets of Oklahoma City.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Code 22 — Going Soft: The Acoustic Album!

The guys of Oklahoma City’s Code 22 seem like a likable group of fellas. Their latest release, Going Soft: The Acoustic Album!, is likable enough as well — so likable that on first listen, I took its clean, acoustic sound and clear, unstressed vocals as an alternative praise-and-worship band.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Eureeka — Polysynthetic Fields

It’s always refreshing to hear music that embraces its own eccentricity, yet presents it in an accessible and meek fashion. Eureeka — the Norman-based duo of Jordan Vargas and Devin Wahl — has tapped into this rarified air on its self-released EP, Polysynthetic Fields.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

Tom Skinner — Tom Skinner

Sincerity is nearly dead in songwriting. The image of the earnest singer with eyes tightly shut and a crack in his voice as he plunges to emotional depths has become a joke.
05/08/2013 | Comments 0

SXSW: Broncho


If there were a parking space between The Ramones and Weezer, Broncho would fit.

By Stephen Carradini March 17th, 2011
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I hope that the same things which make me dance when I'm 17 will make me move when I'm 70. It's rare to see (OK, I've never witnessed) an AARP member just going ballistic at a show, but Broncho's punk tunes are such that they inspired it. An well-aged man watching Broncho's set from outside the venue heard the muscly punk tunes and went ballistic, arms flailing and legs kicking.

I don't think any of the four guys in Broncho saw their fervent fan, as they muscled through their set without hardly turning to either side. The band blasted through 11 songs in about 40 minutes, taking almost no time between songs. The lead singer would often merely take a breath and then deliver the opening lyrics of the next tune in an indignant bark (a la Ramones) or a deadpan speak/sing (Weezer).

The tunes were hard-charging, but they weren't spastic; Broncho's catchy, short, workman-like punk songs call up the ideas of the Ramones in more than just vocal stylings. It wasn't just the audience singing along, either; The Boom Bang played snatches of several Broncho tunes during their soundcheck, while the same band announced in the middle of its show, "The rest of the set, we're only going to play Broncho songs."

That's the type of fanship Broncho inspires.
 
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
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