Like many of the best things, Oxford Collapse started as a joke of sorts. And, thankfully that sense of spontaneous fun remained when they decided they’d become an actual band after playing shows around their hometown of Brooklyn, NY in 2002. Yes, Brooklyn. But, let’s not let preconceptions about Oxford Collapse’s location on a map confuse the issue. This band might be stuck in an era of mp3s and a more general cultural digitization, but they possess a vitality born of blaring tape decks, deafening basement shows and a wide-eyed, bottomless enthusiasm that makes “jaded” sound as dirty and shameful as it should. Already they’ve released two full-lengths (Some Wilderness in 2004 and A Good Ground in 2005), and a handful of singles and EPs. Taking cues from post-punk pioneers and genre-transcending bands like The Embarassment, Mission of Burma or fIREHOSE, Oxford Collapse construct melodic art-pop packed full of chiming guitars and shout-along vocals (“Let’s Vanish,” “Loser City”) Remember the Night Parties is both restless/nervous and heartfelt, with time signatures that are as urgent as they are unpredictable. At once angular and redefined, detached and immediate, the new album finds Oxford Collapse testing the waters of their own inspiration.
Since the joke began, Oxford Collapse has toured extensively with the Constantines, the Joggers, and Part Chimp. Recorded in the Summer of 2006 at Headgear Studios in Brooklyn with John Agnello (Sonic Youth, The Hold Steady), Remember the Night Parties is their Sub Pop Debut.