ARTIST: Oxford Collapse
TITLE: Bits
LABEL: Sub Pop
GENRE: Acoustic
BITRATE: 180kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 38min total
RELEASE DATE: 2008-08-05
RIP DATE: 2008-07-20
Track List:
1. Electric Arc 2:42
2. The Birthday Wars 2:14
3. Vernon-Jackson 2:42
4. Young Love Delivers 3:49
5. Back Of The Yards 2:26
6. A Wedding 2:45
7. Featherbeds 3:17
8. For The Winter Coats 3:15
9. Men & Their Ideas 1:50
10.Children's Crusade 3:03
11.John Blood 3:59
12.B-Roll 2:38
13.I Hate Nobody 3:47
BITS is album number four for BrooklynÆs Oxford Collapse, but itÆs a first for
them in many ways. Some of those ways will be immediately apparent to those of
you whoÆve followed their raucous, boyish exploits since their 2006 Sub Pop
debut Remember the Night Parties, or from their earlier efforts. Their charming
lack of guile, combined with a capable and focused aim towards the better of the
æ80s college-rock cognoscenti and Trouser Press favorites, has made for music of
a mindset that has found its way into backyards and across rooftops all over the
city.
Much of Oxford CollapseÆs earlier output reflected an almost preternatural
awareness of this mindset and was/is excitable and bounding against prison walls
of their own device. BITS corrects for time and experience, and shows a band
artistically riding its own peaks. The tension is still present in their
three-way interplay (listen to them firing off of each other, squealing out of
control at the end of ôBack of the Yardsö) but the direction and presence in
this set is open, flowing against anything theyÆve done before. ItÆs the sound
of fun turning into purpose, of a great band writing and playing their best
songs, and knowing how great that feels.
Inspired by the ethic of the Minutemen and the sense of tireless work embodied
by that trio and the rest of the SST Records roster, Oxford Collapse wrote
material beyond what they would need for BITS-ù30 songs by their count. Surplus
tracks recorded during these sessions went to the ôSpike of Bensonhurstö 7ö for
Flameshovel, the Hann-Byrd 12ö for Comedy Minus One, and were taken on tour this
year in the U.S. and in England with We Are Scientists and Frightened Rabbit.
Strategies to create this much material required a step back from the creative
process. They played what they felt. Time was precious, over-thinking was not,
and the boys tore through their influences. ôThe economy has been bad,ö deflects
Michael Pace, guitarist and vocalist, ôso we decided to write more songs.
Shorter ones, too, because weÆve never released a record without one really long
track in there, and we didnÆt think about doing that this time.ö
Drummer Dan Fetherston, who takes part in writing the bandÆs lyrics along with
Pace and bassist Adam Rizer, concurs. ôA lot of these songs didnÆt have words.
We were standing outside of the studio figuring out a lot of these lyrics right
before we recorded them.ö The spontaneity of these sessions led to an
off-handedly relaxed focus on what was being sung, and the subjects in question
trade sincerity for encryption.
Recording was handled in chunks of time over 2007 with Eric Emm at the Brothers
Studios, and Chad Matheny (who records under the name Emperor X) in spaces all
over town. TheyÆre in their element, working hard, bailing out ricochet-biscuit
melodies and big sing-along choruses, but still able to craft beach-bum campfire
pop strum (ôFeatherbedsö) and delicate string duets (ôA Weddingö) amid all the
ôstraight-for-the-jangularö attacks inside.
This is the new Oxford Collapse, as a band and as a record: straightforward;
memorable; mature, but not necessarily grown-up; just better. And betterÆs all
they needed to canonize themselves in the ranks of bands doing something to
connect the past to the present. ItÆs all heart and ingenuity, the joyous racket
that connects C86 pop to the present, made by three guys who are realizing that
they can be mayors.
http://www.subpop.com/artists/oxford_collapse