A few years ago, around the time of that first Interpol jam, a band that was almost never named as an influence was Minutemen. Now, just a few years later, angular guitar lines and new wave keyboards are seen as being (like totally) over, and have Minutemen gotten their props yet? NO. Why the fuck not? They were great, but, apparently it is still not cool to tuck in your flannel shirt and jam econo, at least not as cool as a detached monotone and self-infliction. (She Wants Revenge come to mind, and, God, I wish they wouldn’t.)
One band that has little of that Minutemen sound in them are Oxford Collapse. While they may have had keyboards and danceable tunes in their past, they were not beholden to any fads and seemed like they could have been peers to '80s heavyweights like Minutemen, R.E.M., or Mission Of Burma, not just imitators. Now they are about to jump up a rung on the exposure latter. Their new album, Remember The Night Parties, graces record stores on October 10. This is the band’s third LP overall and their first for Sub Pop. If you preorder the album from the record label that put out Whatcha Doin’, you can also get your The OC-lovin' hands all over a free gift: a live, CD-R EP, entitled Live In The Metropolis Of Kalamazoo.
A few days before the new record is released, the band will start a month-long tour, combining their powers with the different, yet equally enjoyable, Chin Up Chin Up. Toward the middle of the trek, CUCU go off to learn about connecting letters in a word (i.e. Cursive) and The Joggers come aboard for five Collapse shows, but then CUCU will come back, undoubtedly with some bullshit story about where they’ve been. The whole thing ends with a sweet Sub Pop CMJ showcase that you will never get into, which features those alter-servers The Thermals (the band that put out one of 2004’s most popular albums in 2001), The Shins, and others.
Live In The Metropolis Of Kalamazoo tracklist:
1. Decking the Classics
2. Empty Fields/Volunteers/Proud Mary (medley)
3. Boys Go Home
10.05.06 - Fredericksburg, VA - Mary Washington College
10.07.06 - New York City, NY - Glasslands *
10.08.06 - New Haven, CT - Bar Nightclub *
10.09.06 - New Britain, CT - Central CT State University*
10.10.06 - Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place *
10.11.06 - Cleveland, OH - The Spot (Western Reserve University) *
10.12.06 - Urbana, IL - Courtyard Café *
10.13.06 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
10.14.06 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
10.15.06 - Fargo, ND - Aquarium
10.16.06 - Billings, MT - Carlin Nightclub @
10.17.06 - Spokane, WA - Empyrean Coffee House
10.18.06 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile Café #
10.19.06 - Portland, OR - Disjecta #
10.21.06 - San Francisco, CA - Hotel Utah #
10.22.06 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory Club Inc. #
10.23.06 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah #
10.24.06 - Phoenix, AZ - Modified
10.26.06 - Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves *
10.27.06 - Austin, TX - Emos *
10.28.06 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon *
10.29.06 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
10.30.06 - Mt. Pleasant, SC - Village Tavern *
10.31.06 - Wilmington, NC - Soapbox Laundro Lounge *
11.01.06 - Washington, DC - Black Cat *
11.02.06 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (Sub Pop CMJ Showcase) %
* w/ Chin Up Chin Up
@ w/ So Many Dynamos
# w/ The Joggers
% w/ Loney, Dear, The Elected, The Album Leaf, CSS, The Thermals, The Shins