Review Summary: More heartwarming punk music from Oklahoma. It's like a box of chocolates filled with cigarette butts.
Since releasing their debut EP To the Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie and their first full-length The Dangers of Standing Still to critical acclaim, Red City Radio have quickly built a reputation in the punk community as one of the most promising bands in the scene. The Oklahoma quartet has everything you could want in a punk band -- irresistibly catchy, harmonized choruses sung by cigarette-soaked voices over a 90's skate punk beat. Despite having truly mastered the "Red City Radio sound" throughout their first two releases, the band never sacrificed good songwriting for even a moment. On their latest full-length, Titles, the boys prove that Dangers was no fluke – upping their game in almost every regard.
Titles has a newfound maturity that really brings to the forefront how strong of songwriters the band has become. They have pulled this record in a different direction, and it’s for the better. While they haven’t exactly lost their knack for writing massive sing-alongs (“Show Me on the Doll Where the Music Touched You”), they sound incredibly confident trying new things. Immediately noticeable on this record is the fact that they’re (finally!) playing in a new musical key. That’s not to say that the D Major power chord thing was getting old, but it certainly felt like it was time to try new things. The end results are songs like “Joy Comes With the Morning” that have a charmingly nostalgic, Cheap Girls-esque vibe. It’s new territory for Red City Radio, but they own every second of it.
But for every “Joy Comes With the Morning”, there’s a “Purple Heart Paper Weight”, that sounds a little more like the material on their debut LP – combining aggressive riffs with semi-socially conscious lyrics. There’s nothing to complain about, however, as they’ve introduced some new tricks by trying different rhythms and chord progressions that take their sound a step further, albeit a small one.
Quite simply, Titles has Red City Radio playing their game better than they’ve ever played it – with about 50% more rock and roll. The smoky vocals, infectious choruses, and soaring harmonies haven’t gone anywhere, but the band proves that they’re more than comfortable taking their songwriting a step further, while staying true to the sound that has warmed the hearts of punks across the land.
Recommended Tracks:
• “Show Me On The Doll Where The Music Touched You”
• “Joy Comes With The Morning”
• “Don’t Be A Hero, Find A Friend”
• “The Silence Between”
