:: Track Listing

1. Empty Fields
2. Prop Cars
3. Last American Virgin
4. The Boys Go Home
5. Dusty Horses Practice
6. Cracks in the Causeway
7. Flora y Fauna
8. Proofreading
9. Flaws
10. No Great Shakes
11. Volunteers
12. Keep ‘Em in a Canyon

:: Record Review (No Big Hair)⊙ No Big Hair Home

Oxford Collapse

A Good Ground (NBH)
(Kanine; 2005)

Rating: 80%
Combined Rating: 79%


It happened quietly --- sort of an unheralded kind of sheepish thing, as befits its nature. You see, a little while back, the seeds of a strain of pure indie rock not seen for years ‘round these parts took root amidst fields that had previously been infested with a sort of dance-beat-infused post-punk kudzu weed. The growth was so innocuous at first that it was initially mislabeled as more of the same mile-a-minute-growth, dancey post-punk kudzu, but closer inspection revealed that it was something feared to be long since strangled by tight leather pants and retro skinny ties and what not.

Yeah, indie rock survived the poorly named dance non-revolution, and more importantly the air of detached hipster “cool” that went with it. More often than not, supposed dance bands drew crowds thick with coiffes too pricey to bob, let alone dance. And while the Hold Steady keeps trying to assassinate the cool kids with a Minnesota sneer, bands like Oxford Collapse dare to make the cool kids care again. Because they know it’s not really about whether you’re dancing or not. Really, who the hell listens to music to dance to it? And yes, the pricey coiffes will always be there at the shows, front and center, being all self-conscious and detached; but the Oxford Collapse is preaching to the kids on the edges of the crowd, and y’all need to listen up.

Bored with the Gang of Four and Joy Division sounds that have fascinated so many for too long, OC certainly know their Wire and Mission of Burma, but don’t dwell in Anglophilia for much more than a few angular guitar lessons. Thankfully, the Brooklyn trio gussies up these well-known guitar tricks and licks with some absolutely infectious playing and some riffage that’s straight up on par with early Modest Mouse and recalls a sort of turned-down version of Les Savy Fav or Trail of Dead.

There’s also a fun-loving spirit coursing through the belly of the Oxford Collapse’s sound, something akin to what Clap You Hands Say Yeah! are going for. It’s an earnest plea that stands in staunch opposition to the I-don’t-give-a-crap-if-you’re-listening cool of the last wave of post-punks. It’s a startling development in OC’s sound, because had I only heard their last album, the messy and wandering Some Wilderness, I would have been more eager to put them in the too-cool-for-school post punk category. Whether they’ve developed their ideas more fully this time out or they’re trying to capitalize on the feel-good-indie wave Arcade Fire rejuvenated is up for debate. But judging by the band’s assured song-writing and earnest delivery, I’d say this is more the sound of a band dropping all pretenses of hipness and making the music they want to make rather than, say, a ska band trying to capitalize on the latest trend (here’s looking at you, Bravery/the Stills).

Before this review turns into a Moby Dick-sized epic (or as we like to call it at the CMG ranch, a Newell-ian tone poem), let me touch on the actual songs. Opener “Empty Fields” is a frenetic, too-short manifesto-style preview of what’s to come: short bursts of anthemic lead guitar, detuned rhythm guitar hammering away melodically in the background, ratatat drumming and semi-decipherable yelps from frontman Mike Pace. It’s an infectious combination that can’t help recalling halcyon indie rock days, but sounds insanely fresh right about now. The song is far too brief to be the anthem it hints at, but it does serve as a nice wind-up to the near-anthem “Prop Cars.” The song packs the punk rush of DC-area power pop bands, but adds a melodic sensibility and knack for hooks that seems preternatural. Pace’s emotive, warbling croon and the warm, but charmingly lo-fi production completes the catchy equation.

It’s an equation that the Oxford Collapse manipulates to surprising advantage over the entire first half of A Good Ground. “Last American Virgin” bleeds in with over a minute of atmospheric guitar weaving before exploding into a tasty three chord assault. “The Boys Go Home” is a straight up low-key epic, featuring a driving trip down the guitar neck. “Dusty Horses Practice” features a rubbery chorus in service of a surprisingly melancholy song. The album is surprisingly consistent for most of the second half, there just aren’t as many immediately recognizable anthems. Songs like “Flaws” and “Volunteers” have the same energy of the earlier tracks, but are not as lyrically developed, nowhere near as tight and sound more like an outtake from the Some Wilderness sessions. Thankfully, the euphoric guitar and yelped lyrics on closer “Keep ‘Em in a Canyon” end the album on a high note.

The Oxford Collapse has made a huge jump in terms of its sound and joined the ranks of what seems to be a movement away from the icy-cool detachment of the recent post-punk appropriation artists. Some will undoubtedly cry “emo,” but this is no sniffly-nosed, heart-on-sleeve confessional. This is vintage indie-rock being updated: a stripped-down, lo-fi version of what Trail of Dead were doing before they flew off the Cliffs of Insanity on Worlds Apart. Expect many more to follow them down this path. Sean Ford :: 06 July 2005 |