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We are a truly democratic band, devoid of ego, unshackled to trend or style with no chief songwriter, no dominant personality, no unilateral decisions. Only solidarity and truth.
The above quote is pulled from Red City Radio’s myspace page under their ‘About’ section, and it sums up everything I want in a band that I love, and in a band that I choose to give coverage. No drama. No inconsequential bullshit. Everything’s real, raw and relatable; nothing’s held back, from the screams, to the shouts, to the chords, to the cymbal crashes. You don’t just hear the music, you feel the music because well, you are the embodiment of the music. We all are. And unless you’re without a pulse, it’s impossible not to feel it.
Possessing a contagious working class fury, utilizing soaring melodies and gruff, passionate vocals, Red City Radio are destined to become one of the heavy hitters in the scene before the last drop of whiskey hits the floor. The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma quartet recently inked a deal with Eyeball Records and released an EP entitled To the Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie.
Don’t scoff just yet: While the band’s sound and aesthetic may fall into the arguably over-saturated, semantics-heavy category of ‘orgcore’ and/or ‘gruff pop-punk’, the guys in Red City Radio set themselves apart from the pack with all four members of the band seamlessly contributing sizable vocal parts to complement those aforementioned soaring melodies and rounding it out with impressively tight-but-not-flashy musicianship. Many bands of this ilk sound sloshy (and sometimes, endearingly so) but that’s never the case with Red City Radio. Every moment sounds calculated, but never cold. Do yourself a favor and head over to the band’s myspace page to stream three songs — try not to get goosebumps once “We are The Sons of Woody Guthrie” kicks in. - whatwehate.com
Listening to Red City Radio's To the Sons & Daughters of Woody Guthrie EP, it's a bit of a shock the band signed with Eyeball. This is exactly the type of gravelly, upbeat punk rock with a market already cornered by No Idea and Kiss of Death. Some bands just do it better than others, though, and I guess Red City Radio are doing it so well that a bigger label noticed and stepped up to the plate for them.
This EP, released by another smaller label with a self-explanatory "Grizzled Pop" sticker on the front, is definitely one of the better examples of it in recent memory. There is indeed a glass-gargling member here, but there's also a more strained sounding guy who sometimes sounds like Paddy Costello (particularly the "It's the irony of being an American / support your troops so we can piss on a veteran" couplet in "No One Believes in Moons & Goochers"), giving a great dynamic to the whole thing. The general carmraderie and energy here gives Latterman, New Bruises and Hot Water Music fans in general new reasons to continue breathing.
But it never really sounds too cheeky. There's more downbeat, cautious moments of optimism present in places like "We Are the Sons of Woody Guthrie" ("I'm just tryin' to find a better way out, I'm just tryin' to find a better way out"). Classy backing "whoa"s and layered vocals cleverly make up "If All Else Fails Play Dead."
A little more versatility here and there and this band will definitely go places. As is, the frills are virtually non-existent and this is basically just smartly played and written punk rock that Fest fans always hope for. - punknews.org
Discography
To The Sons & Daughters of Woody Guthrie (The Independent Record Company) 2009
Midwestern Hymnals (The Independant Record Company) 2006. Six song split EP.
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Bio
We’re from Oklahoma City. Middle America. Just as far from the oceans as we are to foreign countries. Residing in a part of this country as renowned for the friendliness of its people as it is for the fervor with which they cheer their favorite football team. The rolling hills of the plains in small town America transitions to pristine lakes within urban landscapes, all seen through the changing lenses of four distinct seasons.
This is home. And it influences who we are as people as much as it does the music that keeps us sane. We’re simple people really. We laugh. We drink. We play music. We dream of better days while making the most of what we have. We hope for the spectacular while admiring the simple. We are the products of our own ambition and longing. And we know that these days are our days and that will never change.
The four of us have all fronted our own bands. We’ve all waxed poetic to the sound of a power chord in a smokey club. Thrown together three minutes of fury and rested on laurels unearned. What we have never been able to do until now was surround ourselves with people who took the craft of music and embraced it with the same excitement as the person who hears that first song that changed their life. We are four very different people with a singular agenda. We don’t want to be special. We want to be relevant.
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