B-Side Guys

Claiming Wichita, Kansas is “the #1 city in the world” requires either genuine delusion or sophisticated artistic commitment to absurdity. Andhi & The O’Neills’ “Wichita,” released forty-seven days ago, operates firmly in the latter territory, transforming obvious overstatement into surprisingly effective folk rock anthem that finds genuine beauty in deliberate ridiculousness.

The track’s central conceit—that Kansas’s largest city represents the absolute pinnacle of human civilization—gains power through sheer repetitive conviction. When Andhi O’Neill proclaims “It’s the center of the universe,” the delivery carries enough earnestness to create productive uncertainty about whether we’re hearing sincere hometown pride or elaborate performance art. This ambiguity becomes the song’s greatest strength, allowing listeners to simultaneously enjoy the joke and consider whether their own geographic loyalties might be equally arbitrary.

The Hudson Valley quartet’s approach to the material demonstrates sophisticated understanding of how folk rock traditions have always celebrated specific places through sweeping emotional claims. Their integration of “melodicism of classic pop with moody, introspective folk & ramshackle grooves of early rock n roll” creates musical framework that honors the Kansas prairie’s actual spaciousness while supporting the lyrical hyperbole. Austin Kopec’s lead guitar work and keys provide textural foundation that makes the celebration feel genuine regardless of its objective accuracy.

Perhaps most effectively, “Wichita” taps into something genuinely universal through its specific geographic fixation. The repeated assertion “All I’ve ever wanted to see/is in Wichita” captures the profound human capacity for finding meaning in unlikely places, for creating personal significance through sheer force of emotional investment. This psychological accuracy transforms what could have been simple regional comedy into exploration of how attachment actually operates.

The production by Seth Applebaum (Ghost Funk Orchestra) and mastering by Heather Jones serves the song’s deliberately modest scope while ensuring the “sing-along chorus” achieves maximum infectiousness. Rather than trying to make Wichita sound exotic or mysterious, the arrangement embraces the city’s fundamental ordinariness as feature rather than limitation. This aesthetic choice reflects mature understanding that the most powerful place-based songs often celebrate locations precisely because they resist obvious celebration.

“Wichita” succeeds because it finds the perfect balance between irony and sincerity, creating space where genuine affection and obvious exaggeration can coexist without canceling each other out. Through committed celebration of an unlikely subject, Andhi & The O’Neills have created something that honors both the absurdity of human attachment and its ultimate necessity for creating meaning from landscape.