Lately, that’s been choice cuts from Wild Onion (Grand Jury Music), the band’s sophomore LP featuring infectious songs like “I Found A New Way,” “Making Breakfast” and “Flavor.” It capitalizes on all the promise of their 2013 debut, Sunken, which took them out on a U.S. tour in support of Leeds post-punks Eagulls. Clocking in at 16 high-energy tracks, it plays like the greatest hits of some ahead-of-its-time rock band forgotten by history.
“Looking back on it, that was a lot of songs. I can barely believe we did that. But at the time, we’d been touring for so long on Sunken, and we were writing the whole time. We have 30 songs to choose from, and I guess I’m just proud of how fucking well we pulled that off,” Frankel said with a chuckle. “Each song was specific to itself, but we found a way to make it flow. I haven’t listened to it since we first finished it, but so often I get bored with records because it feels like the same song over and over again. That one is like a Nuggets compilation or something.”
Taking cues from their heroes, Twin Peaks opted to release the earliest versions and demos from Wild Onion as a free digital album, Mind Frames, earlier this month, punctuating that news with the announcement of a clear, orange vinyl release of deep-cut single “In the Morning (In the Evening) / ”Got Your Money” on Record Store Day on April 18th.
“We’ve always been into stuff like The Beatles’ outtakes and demos. I have this one record by Velvet Underground called Fully Loaded. It’s alternate takes and demos, and I think it’s interesting to hear where you come from,” Frankel said. “We don’t mind people seeing that about us. It’s who we are.”
They’ve spent just about every day out on the road since 2013, both nationally and across the pond. The youthful crew is eager to get back in the studio to record yet another album, though gigs and festivals fill up just about every day from now through summer. New material is in the works regardless, in spite of all the challenges in the way. Because destiny is calling, and they can’t help but answer.
“It can be hard sometimes. I’ve never had to write a song in a moving van with a bunch of dudes talking, but that’s something I’m getting better at, I guess,” Frankel said. “Usually it’s four days here and four days there. But when I’m back in Chicago, I just kind of hole up in my bedroom, get a guitar out and sit there until we have to leave again … but I love it. It’s the only life I’ve really known.”
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Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7 at City Pres, 829 N.W. 13th in Oklahoma City. Admission is free. The concert is all-ages and presented by Amplifan, Coors, and Oxford Karma.
