Yeah, yeah, we can relate.

It’s partly what drew us to them in the first place…

“Don’t make eye contact with him while they’re playing!”
“He’s a professional grappler!”
“I heard he choked out an audience member on stage!”
“Dude, he has a switchblade in his underpants!”
“He’ll probably fuck your girl!”

The list goes on. Really, it does. And while it might all be true, it’s not the sole reasons you need to see Oxbow. Sure, their frontman is a large part of it n’all, and surely he pulls you in, but Oxbow, as a band, are one of the single most powerful live bands we’ve had the honor of working with over the last 10 odd years of doing Hydra Head. This isn’t a plea to pay attention (well, actually, it is), it’s a lesson in why you need to see Oxbow play San Diego, Tempe, and Albuquerque this week with Isis. So, for now at least (3am. High as a kite. After Oxbow performed their entire new record “The Narcotic Story” for a select crowd in Chinatown LA …), here are the Top 3 reasons you should go see Oxbow live this week:

1. They’ll play songs from their new record (out June 7th!). Tonight they played it front to back. They probably won’t try that again (yeah, you missed a one of a kind set), but what’s important is that they’ll play some of it. The new record has THAT vibe to it…like something special, something big, something professional even. Kind of like how discovering Afghan Wigs and Portishead made you want to cry when all you knew prior was Napalm Death and Neurosis. It transcends like only a band with experience…and in this case we’re talking just shy of 20 years of experience…
2. They have merch. For those that regularly go see Oxbow, we ain’t shitting you (Aaron, if you read this, make sure you get to the merch before the doors open). Oxbow never have merch with them but tonite they have unreal shit. Long sleeve shirts from the “Let Me Be A Woman” 1995 European tour , “The Unpublished Word” pamphlet, “Oxbow meet White Tornado” CDs (long out of print), and two other shirts from way back (“Evil Heat” era and earlier”). You likely won’t find them sprawled on a merch table, so search out Eugene…he’s got them in what appears to be a bowling bag.
3. We’re so cashed we can’t recall what awesome point we had for #3. Whatever it was, it was probably, well, awesome.

See you tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the day after that. Any of those days do the trick.