BRONCHO is an Oklahoma band who started life as a scrappy, sometimes goofy pop-punk band powered by vocalist Ryan Lindsey’s off-kilter lyrics and idiosyncratic singing style. The latter elements haven’t changed, but their sound quickly did, as it shifted from giddy pop (the 2013 single “It’s On”) to murky, downer ballads (most of 2014’s Just Enough Hip to Be Woman) and melancholy new wave-inspired songs (as heard on their 2016 album Double Vanity). By the time of 2018’s Bad Behavior, the group merged all of their disparate elements into a cohesive, more straightforward indie sound, which by the time of 2025’s Natural Pleasure, they cast aside for a set of whispery ballads.

BRONCHO was formed in 2010 in Norman, Oklahoma by guitarist/vocalist Lindsey, guitarist Ben King, bassist Jonathan Ford, and drummer Nathan Price. The project began as a loose recording session where Lindsey quickly sketched out a few ideas before sending them around to some friends for advice and ideas. Before long, the careless demos became the basis of a full-on band, with Ford going so far as booking the group a show without consulting the other collaborators on the project. Taking inspiration from early punk acts like the Ramones and the Stooges, and applying liberal amounts of ’80s college rock grit, BRONCHO were born.

The band’s first full-length outing, Can’t Get Past the Lips, surfaced in 2011 and eventually led to press and national touring, and ranking as one of NPR’s best-of-2011 albums, among other accolades. The album was re-released in 2013 on producer Kevin Augunas’ Fairfax Recordings label, and the band started recording a second album. After leaving the label and Augunas, the group issued a single for Park the Van, “Try Me Out Sometime,” in 2011, then returned with a single for CQ Records in 2013. The song, the unstoppably catchy “It’s On,” was used memorably over the end titles on the third season of hit television show Girls.

Moving to a new label, Dine Alone, and down to the trio of Lindsey, King, and Price, the band’s second album, Just Enough Hip to Be Woman, was released in the fall of 2014. They added bassist Penny Pitchlynn and guitarist Mandii Larsen of the Low Litas for the tour that followed, and Pitchlynn stuck around for the next album. The new wave-influenced Double Vanity was released in June of 2016.

The band spent much of the next couple years on the road, opening for Queens of the Stone Age and Cage the Elephant and also headlining their own shows. Along the way, they found time to record their fourth album, Bad Behavior. Inspired by world events and people’s less-than-good behavior, the record was released in October of 2018 by Park the Van. A series of remixes of Bad Behavior songs followed, including reworkings from Computer Magic, Yeasayer, of Montreal, Generationals, and Methyl Ethel. These remixes were collected on 2020 EP Bad. The same year, BRONCHO returned with new single “Friends,” and in 2021, they offered up the slightly twee jangle and breathy vocals of “It’s Complicated.” The group continued touring and working on music, while Lindsey also spent time taking care of his young child. The efforts of their recording sessions resulted in the Natural Pleasure, a record that both breaks with past efforts by being full of relaxed, dreamy ballads and a disco interjection or two. It was released in April of 2025, after which the band embarked on a lengthy tour. – Biography by Fred Thomas