I’ve been embarrassed only a handful of times in life. The most horrifying was when I shit my pants at the age of 19 with my mom in the car. She subsequently told all my friends.

Originally conceived as a farce noise machine: drum bashes, feedback-feedback-feedback, and avoiding any sort definable sound, the band did little to impress more than themselves.

I’ll save you the details but needless to say: scarred. The most recent was when I spoke to lead Mike Pace of Brooklyn’s rock outfit Oxford Collapse. It was nowhere near the level of humiliation I found there in the passenger seat of my mother’s Mazda Protégé over a decade ago, but let’s just call it the equivalent of a minor wardrobe malfunction. For the record, it was never planned, I never thought twice about my outfit. It was, in fact, the only clean garment I had to wear. So there I am, mixing it up with Mike and I realize in a ghostly pale of horrors that I am sporting the cobalt Oxford Collapse tee purchased during their 2006 tour for their masterpiece Remember The Night Parties. I felt like the queerest groupie - on par with Vic Munoz; the Led Zeppelin fanatic from Almost Famous who gawked at a Sharpie after Jimmy Page touched it.

But the post grunge rock trio from the East Coast has little to be embarrassed about. Their aforementioned Sub Pop release Night Parties was hailed by the press ending up on many best of lists yet had difficulties landing in public hands. Radically raucous in an adolescent way, the album eluded musical stereotypes. It was neither sub-grunge nor was it pop. “We never really know what to classify ourselves as,” laughs Mike. Years later, he is still unsure.

This month marks the release of their middle-aged response Bits; the result of a thirty song plethora of material condensed to thirteen unyielding anthems. The album dives more daringly into their brand of post-punk (if you can even all it that) by relying less on lyrical pop (if they even sing like that) and instead favors a wave or rocking guitar revelry (if they’d even admit to that). “We knew we wanted to evolve the sound further [with Bits]. But we also knew we wanted to have more fun with this album,” explains Mike as he lounges in his kitchen on the verge of hitting the road with California’s We Are Scientists for a quick jaunt across the States. “We are all growing up now and who knows where we are going to be in a year from now.”

Where Oxford Collapse is today is a hanging chad of sorts; a band enormously talented, genre daring and potentially frustrated with their lack of acknowledgment.

They’ve come a long way from a four piece shaggy dog story. Originally conceived as a farce noise machine: drum bashes, feedback-feedback-feedback, and avoiding any sort definable sound, the band did little to impress more than themselves. “We all had contractor jobs and really didn’t do more than just play as sort of a joke until our guitarist defected,” admits Mike. “That was when I - we decided to take it serious I think.” It didn’t take long. Only a few years ago, the buzz band was on local imprint Kanine Records before being courted by Sub Pop. Despite the new found security blanket, and the release of their finest album to date, much of the listener base eluded the trio. Bits would have to be everything Night Parties wasn’t. The band pumped out track after track with the full intentions each song would be better than the last. This wouldn’t be a measly dozen track effort mixed with poor B-Sides. The band tackled the project with composition as a key factor - adding strings and instrumentations that hadn’t been attempted by the group in the past. Contrary to what some may have you believe, this was no rushed journey like Night Parties had been, instead taking the bands complete consideration in order to push away from the proverbial. From swayed-back bends that beg sing-a-longs (‘Featherheads’) to heavy thinkers accompanied by violins (‘A Wedding’), it’s apparent throughout Bits the need to push themselves. Or even their friend lending her vocals to back the enchantingly hip ‘John Blood’. “I’d say that was the largest challenge for us when recording the album,” admits Mike. “But it also made us feel like we took a hefty step.” And so goes the story of Bits: an album that was all about the jams but turned out to be the bands next step.

But when the they finished recording around the New Year, they hit wall after wall on releasing their new album. Dates were shuffled around Sub Pop’s rather crowded roster as they waited to reap. And waited. “Is it frustrating? Sure. You work so hard on something and you’re ready to ride that excitement on the road. But these are details any band and its label deal with; the politics.”

“We are all growing up now and who knows where we are going to be in a year from now.”

Where Oxford Collapse is today is a hanging chad of sorts; a band enormously talented, genre daring and potentially frustrated with their lack of acknowledgment. It stands to be argued where they may end up a year from now. Much of their future rests on the shoulders of Bits, the tour, and if it gets extended beyond the current late summer fling. “I’m a very optimistic guy,” confesses Mike. “We are all growing up but still love to play together. If we were [to split up], I’m sure it would still work out for the best.”

Regardless of how it plays out, Mike Pace and his mates have little to be embarrassed about when they bleed this much post-punk brilliance. Whether Bits ends up being appreciated is suspect - as much so as the bands stamina after which. But whatever may come, Oxford Collapse is (not was) one of the most talented post-punk acts (yes I’ll call them that) in the past twenty years.

+ review: Oxford Collapse - Bits
+ review: Oxford Collapse - Remember The Night Parties
+ video: Oxford Collapse ‘Remember The Night Parties’