A record that creates a sense of nostalgia rather than simply flaunts obvious retro influences, Oxford Collapse’s Remember the Night Parties finds the Brooklyn-based trio expanding greatly on the post-dance-punk sound of their first two albums. In drawing inspiration from both early-’80s independent rock (the lo-fi guitar hook on “Please Visit Your National Parks” is pure vintage IRS-era R.E.M.) and from the rhythmic structures of the same era’s popular rock music (the Blondie strut of “Kenny Can’t Afford It”), Oxford Collapse evoke the best aspects of that era’s music scene without being beholden to a specific sound or gimmick. That works to the band’s advantage, since it’s when they get into specifics (as on “For the Khakis and the Sweatshirts,” which namechecks Ice Cube using his real name, or the question, “Why can’t I pick the scabs off your legs?” on “Molasses”) that they tend to come off as strident. Instead, it’s the soaring wordless refrain of “Please Visit Your National Parks,” the simple couplets that tell the linear narrative of “Lady Lawyers,” and the absurd minimalism of “In Your Volcano” that do the most to construct the album’s sustained mood. On Remember the Night Parties, the emotions are real and often outsized, but the memories themselves, like the album, are better when they get a bit fuzzy.
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