Band: Oxford Collapse
Album: Bits
Note to other readers: Inspired by my wife's book club, I contacted Josh this week and said that we should independently review an album this week. We decided to choose a band we had never heard of that had been positively reviewed in Paste magazine. In the most recent issue of Paste, they had reviewed this band Oxford Collapse, giving it an 86 out of 100 which was the second highest of the reviews. The only thing I had remembered about the review was that they said something about it being college rockish.
Review: So, I didn't check out anything about this band, just listened to the music, much like how one was forced to do so in the early internet days when you could not instantly find out all the silly peripheral things about the band that so often affect my listen but really shouldn't.
My overall impression of the album is that it's very good. Not great, not horrible, but very good. The sound is schizoid. The opener "Electric Arc" has some great indie guitar which more than makes up for the repetitive lyrics. Vocals are clear and up front in the mix (as if I even know what that means). However, the sounds of Birthday Wars is completely different. Fuzzy guitars, vocals buried in the mix and completely unintelligible. It sounds like 90s indie-rock stuff like early Mineral or early Promise Ring (without the lisp) or something like that. Just a rougher sound. Both sound great. And then! Track 3 (Vernon-Jackson) welcomes a new vocalist and I still can't tell if I hate his voice. Less of a rock voice and more of a slimey croon or something. After first three tracks, I was thinking "I could love this album." However, track four has idiotic lyrics with emo-styling singing from both vocalists (I hate the "so absurd" line. Just hate it more than anything. Worst part of the album.) and track 5 is a hideous speak-sing thing that sounds like the Hold Steady (and you know I loathe the Hold Steady).
Track 6 (a Wedding) is a real shocker as it is only a cello and singing. I thought it too emoey/gooey dumb at first, but slowly grew to really like it, thought the risk was worthwhile. The next two songs I was convinced were the heart of the album: Featherbeds and For the Winter Coats are great songs (I'm not sure why I love the line "got jacked up playing leapfrog" but I do) with great lyrics and rockish. But then Men and Their Ideas is another Hold Steady/Brand New hybrid thing that really killed the momentum...until Children's Crusade knocks it out of the park. Best song on the album, awesome marching, military type drumming and lyrics that I can't quite make out but I think might be really cool (and I don't want to look them up because it might kill the effect). The next three tracks are all up in the air for me: They contain great elements, and terrible elements, whether it be off-mic singing like Brand New (which doesn't work well) or strange references to the South when OC sounds like nothing from the South to a guest female vocalist that sucks out the energy, to good melodies, catchy riffs, etc. Just hard to really get a hold of.
Overall, I would say I loved the variation of the album. Too often I stop listening to an album because the sound never varies between songs (see all bearded acoustic sensitive men and their albums). These guys really try hard to mix it up, and sometimes it's terrible, but usually they hit the mark. Really saves the album for me. If I were giving it a grade, I'd probably go for a B (where The Bends is an A+ Parachutes is a C and Yourself or Someone Like You is an F.)
