Cleopatra Records – 19 Sep 2025
The new record from The Oxys features a band at the peak of their punk
Not only are The Oxys among the best and brightest of the current crop of punk and roll bands, they’re by far the most productive. Casting Pearls Before Swine is the Austin quintet’s third full length in four years. Even frequent lineup changes have done nothing to derail The Oxys locomotive. The thing The Oxys do brilliantly is use their twin guitar attack to build tension. They play off of each other like Dead Boys or revved up early ‘70s Alice Cooper. The songs feel built around the riffs, and the push and pull creates drama. All this and more takes place in the context of songs that generally don’t exceed three minutes.
Opener “Poison Apple” starts things off with a little Hanoi Rocks type sleaze, and gives listeners their first taste of organ. (Pun intended.) The dark “Long Shadows” and the cell phone hating “Idiot Box” are back to back killers. “Mr. Softee” is the first of two songs on the record about actual (serial) killers. Side A closer “Eaten Alive” is the other. It’s about singer Phil Davis’ distant uncle Joe Ball. (There was also a 1976 Tobe Hooper movie with the same name.) It’s a slow burn that builds and swells like Dead Boys’ “Son of Sam”. It’s slower than typical Oxys’ fare, but it feels like the record’s centerpiece.
“Demons” is a straight up rocker to start side B. The Farfisa organ shows up again and is an integral part of “Poison in the Heart” and “Not Gonna Die”. The lightness helps offset the lyrical darkness of songs about heartbreak, addiction, death, desperation and despair. Spoiler alert – “Toe Tag Love” shares a common theme with the TSOL classic “Code Blue”. Moody closer “Drop of Blood” comes far too soon, and leaves the listener wanting more. Clocking in at 10 tracks in just under 30 minutes, Casting Pearls Before Swine is all killer no filler. It just gets better with every listen.
For vinyl fiends: First pressing is on black, but it’s unclear how many were made. There’s a nice printed black and white inner sleeve with lyrics, and killer black, white and orange jacket art by Ravagers’ frontman Alex Hagen.
Part-time punk writer, suburban dad and angry old man. Follow my adventures on the Punk Till I Die podcast!