It gets sprayed all over the place, in fact. Matt Moran’s desperate punk hollers; his messy, confessional-to-the-occasional-point-of-embarrassing lyrics; his band’s well-coordinated, super-loud melodic rock arrangements all sound so much like a release, at times vindicating, at others reaching for (and grasping) the anthemic.
Every song on the sardonically titled Midwestern High Life, is a rock ’n’ roll chest-beater, possessive of the same hyperlocal, bar-band familiarity that The Hold Steady spouted prior to the departure of keyboardist Franz Nicolay.
This four-piece from down southwest (which includes bassist Patrick Bellamy, drummer Justin Strickland and Moran’s brother Daniel on the keyboard) writes exclusively about its hometown of Altus, which appears to be both a source of and solution to all that the band’s got pent-up.
A drama that captures both notions plays out in the mid-album linchpin “Midwest,” about a son “who never grew up,” whose face the narrator “sees around here so much.” It eventually rises into a great, big ol’ full-band chorus that suggests a punk act finally hit its sweet spot between melody and volume.
The Typist next play Oklahoma City on April 6, at The Paseo Underground. You can stream Midwestern High Life for free, or purchase a digital copy for $5 below. —Matt Carney
