Oxford Collapse, Bits

Oxford Collapse has got to be one of the happiest bands out there. Everything about the band is upbeat — from the happy vocals to the not-too-agressive guitar to the groovy drums. Even when the singer is shouting and the drums are pummeling, the band still doesn’t sound intense. The band sums up their M.O. in the last song, which is called “I Hate Nobody.”

On Bits, the band’s fourth album, they’ve tightened up the songwriting. Gone are the extended experimental songs, and in their place is an album of standard pop-length songs. They can still write big indie-style anthems, though, coming across like My Bloody Valentine or a more pop-oriented Pavement a lot of the time.

Bits has some good songs. The best is “The Birthday Wars,” a simple and efficient song with the dense feel and groovy drums of My Bloody Valentine and short harmonies at the end of the verses that kick the song up a notch. Another great soft-to-loud anthem is “Young Love Delivers,” which provides a digest of young male life: “My love came back from Sweden / Brought me some bathroom reading.” And the harmonies make the song even more amusing. “Electric Arc,” which opens the album, is a cool, fast anthem with a nice guitar riff that complements the vocal. The one annoyance is that the production masks the sound of the album — if the sound was a little grittier, the songs would sound more distinct from one another. As it is, some of the songs start to blend into one another.

The guys in Oxford Collapse should have a solid career before them. They have their own sound — it’s reminiscent of a lot of ’80s and ’90s college rock, but not like anyone in particular. Apparently they put more effort into the songcraft for this album, and it shows. Bits is a solid album with some really exciting songs. They should be proud.