There’s a curious romance at the heart of Oxbow. Curious, because you might not initially equate such a notion with a band who first introduced themselves to the world via an album entitled Fuckfest. - Decibel
The Oxbow discography - six albums, starting with 1989’s Fuckfest and building to 2007’s The Narcotic Story - is a compelling and powerful journey through one man’s obsessions with sex and violence, told through throbbing, occasionally quite noisy post-blues art-rock. - The Wire
Can you believe OX BOW has been a band for 20 fucking years? Neither can we - mostly because they appear to be so young and good-looking (and because at least one of them will beat us up if we don’t say that). And yet our reissue of the band’s 1990 debut proves that they were once much younger and even better-looking. Originally released on CFY/Pathological, the aptly titled Fuckfest is a pornographic snapshot of a burgeoning musical force in its formative years; a raw, naked display of desperate humanity and abject terror; a decisive collision of Midwest noise, and all-American trepidation.
Fuckfest Tracklist:
1. Curse (5:52)
2. 30 Miles (5:48)
3. The Valley (5:50)
4. Bull’s Eye (4:03)
5. Yoke (6:13)
6. Hunger (9:19)
Oxbow is one of the rare bands that exhibits such a glacial lack of compromise, from the start settling into a style that's harsh at best, and using music outside of their bubble as base componentry rather than outright influence. A personal colleague of mine and vocal critic of modern blues declared in a moment of exasperation that the two best bands working in that idiom were/are Arab on Radar and U.S. Maple. Compile that list for real with Oxbow on top and you might have a reasonable argument. - Dusted Magazine
Best known for vocalist Eugene Robinson's cathartic live performance (which includes stripping, howling, and pelvic-gyrating), Oxbow has carved a very unique place for itself in the post-rock scene. - XLR8R
For more information, visit:
Oxbow on Facebook
www.theoxbow.com
www.hydrahead.com
