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Oxes - Arab on Radar Split 10"
(Wantage
USA)Alongside Karp, The Fucking Champs, Arab on Radar,
Lightning Bolt, Landed, and C Average, Oxes have taken the most
recent turn at pounding on the corpse of rock, hoping to revive it
to it's ideally passionate fury. This newer class of bands adopt a
uniquely abstract way to achieve the chaos, tension, and release of
heavy rock. Dissonance, noise, and (most importantly) a heavy handed
irony in it's classic riffs and licks distance it from previous
waves of rock music. Stripped of the majority of classic rock's
standard methods, it comes across as a reaction against the rock
bands it follows. Or it could just be that there are two schools of
rock which they are trying to combine: 1) Kiss/Black Sabbath
inspired bands, and 2) US Maple.
The Oxes are an instrumental, two guitar and drums band from
Baltimore, MD. Their songs have an intriguing mix of aggression,
frantic bouts of confusion, odd structuring, bizarre time
signature/phrasing and, of course, a good sense of humor. The
"wireless" gimick they exploit, atop the guitarist's pedestals, and
the use of a cowbell on their first album--which is mixed very high
and only hit once or twice in unexpected places--are both examples
of their tendency to make the Oxes experience a fun/ny one.
This 10" may very well be the best joke they've told yet. It's
titled "Arab on Radar" after the Rhode Island band of vaguely
similar musical leanings. The story is that they recorded some songs
in tribute to Arab on Radar for the B-side and have two standard
Oxes songs on the A-side.
The A-side is standard fare for Oxes. Filled with brilliantly
explosive riffs coupled with off kilter drum decimation, they keep
things interesting with odd time shifts and a sense of making the
unexpected feel natural. "Say Something to Bees about the Lion in
the Alley" is an exploration of a quickly strummed guitar part that
oddly approximates what I would imagine a swarm of locusts to sound
like. The similarly titled "Say Something to Bees about not Praying
and Don't Bothering" is a heavier, more controlled chaos.
The B-side is the "Arab on Radar" side. The artwork for the
record has pictures of Oxes playing in a long hallway type room.
Side A shows them playing their wireless guitars and using their
pedestals. Side B has them without guitars. The drummer is standing
next to the drums (he looks like he's stumbling around, trying to
find them), and the two guitarists are both singing (that is,
yelping) into microphones. Presumably, this is their Arab on Radar
picture. The Oxes do an amazingly convincing impersonation of Arab
on Radar. "Rough Gay at the Office" (a play on the title of Arab on
Radar's second album, "Rough Day at the Office" on Load Records) has
all the right elements, right down to the high pitched vocals with
the strange lift at the end of a syllable, almost a squeal. In fact,
all of the songs have a convincing similarity to Arab on Radar
(except maybe the reverbed vocals on "Fallopian Boobs"). Oxes
perfectly capture the guitar tones--the one trebly lead guitar and
one heavily overdriven low end guitar that switches off and on
between trebly lines and the low end parts that ground their songs
(sort of).
I would have never expected Oxes to do a concept record of any
kind, so once again, they prove I'm a fool. Arab on Radar are
supposedly not happy about this record, because it was done without
their knowledge. Whether time will see this 10" as an attempt to
drum up publicity or a genuine tribute to Arab on Radar, I think
it's a perfect way to tribute a band who thrives on chaos and
confusion. All that aside, the songs hold up well compared to their
past output, which has been exciting to say the least.
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