Red River Playlist No. 5
Red River Playlist No. 5
We're late, but better late than never
We’re two weeks late with this installment of the Red River Playlist. Forgive the tardiness, but better late than never with this list of noteworthy music from both sides of the Red River.
We’ve long been fans of Oklahomans like Zack Crow, Ryan Oldham of RDO Smokewagon, and Cade Roth, but this month we dug into the scene a little deeper and came up with a list that includes Wichita Falls-area songs but is also heavy on Oklahoma energy. Let’s go…
Alcoholic Vocabulary Lord: The Kept
We’ve previously talked about our favorite track, The God of Tits & Wine by Wichita Falls’ metal standouts The Kept, but we’re overdue to feature a track from their backcatalogue. Alcoholic Vocabulary Lord is heavy, progressive, and prominently features awesome Iron Maiden-esque twin lead guitar lines.
San Antonio’s Ratchet Dolls released a single, Loud, Loud, Loud, earlier this year, right before their gig at The Iron Horse Pub. Since then they’ve continued touring in Texas and beyond, and the singles keep coming. Their latest is The Enemy and fans of the Sunset Strip sound will be happy.
How Are You: Passengers Unknown
We’ve previously raved about Tyler, Texas’ Passengers Unknown. Their latest single, How Are You, cranks up the steam. This electric track shoves Passengers Unknown’s potential right in your face with soulful vocals and cutting six-string work. We included their track 3 AM on this playlist for good measure. Look out for this band.
Ryan Oldham, solo artist and founding member of RDO Smokewagon, is an Oklahoma red dirt institution. Adderall Sunrise is arguably his most popular track as of this writing. We take pleasure in the brutal honesty and introspectiveness of Oldham’s songwriting — stories about challenges rooted in love, apathy and struggles with the bottle. Also included on this playlist, Too Far Gone.'
American Brown: Downtown Royalty Band
American Brown is the first single in a series of releases from Wichita Falls’ Downtown Royalty; a series slated to continue every two weeks between now and the end of 2024. In keeping with Downtown Royalty’s reputation, it’s stellar. American Brown is a crafted funk/blues stomp, original, and well-produced. Let’s hope this is just a taste of what’s to come.
Wichita Falls’ Jay Burnam has a modern singer/songwriter channel that he never turns off, where his personal lyrics and acoustic guitar unfurl a tale. In this case, it’s a story of vulnerability told with on-the-nose lyrics. Our question is, how does it take us back to a magical previous era? How can it be modern and still feel like it came out of a 1970s wood-paneled mancave with a home bar wrapped in naugahyde and a sterling silver ice bucket? We don’t know, but we like it. Let’s have a cocktail.
Echoes of the Past: Anthony Montes
The lead guitarist for Clint Vines & The Hard Times has some solo instrumental music you should stream. Echoes of the Past is a country-tinged guitar track with a Latin flavor and it pairs perfectly with a terracotta-colored sunset and a tumbler of whiskey. And if you need driving music, Anthony Montes’ uptempo Lost Time is a nice choice.
As of the publication of this list, we are only days away from Down to Friend’s appearance in Wichita Falls with It Hurts to Be Dead and Ladybird. Good Time serves as an uncharacteristically bouncy singalong song for a Dallas band that is normally very punk rock.
As with Down to Friend, The Stray Sons are just days away from an appearance in Wichita Falls. This Fritch, Texas band describe themselves as red dirt meets rock, and we’ve previously featured Clean Money on a Red River Playlist. This time around, check out Dirty Laundry.
Tulsa’s Crimson Love has a self-titled EP available to stream and recent single Pay for My Love has a decidedly 1980s Sunset Strip sound that also showcases some absolutely blazing guitar work during the solo. This band has strong potential and is worth a listen.
In the spirit of The Hives and The Vines, Oklahoma’s Wolf Ugly is a textbook post-punk revival band which at times transitions into a sort of raw new wave; as if someone locked Panic! at the Disco, Husker Du and David Bowie in a room and said “Don’t come out until you’ve written a song.” This is another Oklahoma band we’ll be watching. Listen to As Above.
Set My Soul on Fire: Edge of Destiny
Edge of Destiny is an Austin rock band with a talented woman at the mic — Kraevin Caedo — and they have a good supply of streaming music for you to check out, and a YouTube Channel, too.
Fans of bottom-heavy bands like Royal Blood and Queens of the Stone Age will enjoy SluggNutt. Hailing from Salina, Oklahoma, this band has tight songwriting, bass-heavy riffing, and memorable melodies and hooks that occasionally bring to mind mainstream acts like Seether.
Memphis: Cade Roth & the Blacksheep
Anybody who knows anything about Oklahoma music knows Cade Roth and the Black Sheep and has heard Memphis, but we’re including it here for any unfortunate soul who doesn’t know about the silky smoove sound of Memphis.
We recently wrote about You4ia (Euphoria), the most recent single by Blank Labels, and it feels like another example of several strong Texoma indie rock releases, including Blank Labels’ previous single, Vague, and As Above by Wolf Ugly.
Spotify users can access this playlist here.
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