Red City Radio- The Dangers of Standing Still

Red City Radio- the best punk band from Oklahoma City. Okay so maybe I don't know any other punk bands from Oklahoma City... But still. I'm sure I'm right! Paul Pendley, Garrett Dale, Jonathan Knight, and Dallas Tidwell are the four forces behind the music, and they're all awesome. This release is actually way old- it came out in February on Paper + Plastick, but man... sometimes an album is so good, you can't just let it go on un-reviewed.

Stephen Egerton (Descendents, ALL) actually recorded this album, which is pretty damn cool, right? It was such a great release. "An Introduction of Sorts," the opening track, grabs you right away. It pretty much handcuffs you to the album and threatens to shoot you if you stop listening, but that's okay, because you don't want to stop listening. Paul Pendley has a really unique voice that stays in your head. Red City Radio showed in their previous EP that they have a strong, gruff melodic sound and they didn't stray too far from it on The Dangers of Standing Still. Paul, when asked about the album, says "“For the most part, the songs follow a similar template as our EP - big choruses, big hooks, but with some new surprises.” And really, that's exactly what you get. The new surprises are a little bit of succession, as you should expect in any new release. And he isn't kidding on the big choruses and hooks- it seems like the whole song is either building up to an explosion, or exploding. Not bad explosions though, you won't lose any limbs. It's more like a cupcake explosion- a punk rock cupcake explosion.

"Two For Flinching" has the most addicting sound I've heard in a while, and the harmonies only make it better and more catchy. Other songs, like "Too Much Whiskey, Not Enough Blankets" grab you with the guitar melodies instead of the vocals, and just kind of tie together with the vocals.

"Spinning in Circles is a Gateway Drug" has a badass music video, which you can watch on Absolute Punk.

Overall, four thumbs up for Red City Radio- two from me, and two from Idle! This is one of those few albums where you listen to it, and then immediately think "I need to hear that again!" over and over again.

Love it.

-Bear