by Melissa Duong
The Ox Knox Your Socks Off
If you’re trying to find some more information about the upcoming catchy band The Cloak Ox, a band signed to the Totally Gross National Product record label, you might find it rather difficult. Why? Well, that’s because sometime around Rosh Hashana, the band hired a company to wipe all available information about the band on the Internet. Looks like someone was looking for a fresh start. Or perhaps they were hiding something under that cloak of theirs? Well, good thing That Music Mag is here to save the day with an interview of The Cloak Ox. Regardless of the intention behind wiping out the information and streamlining fans to their Bandcamp profile and Facebook page, it seems like it was a good choice. Since that day, the band has been overcoming landstanding obstacles and meeting goals all in stride while touring.
Let’s rewind. The band started somewhere around 2010 through a Craigslist ad, and despite the questionable beginnings, it seems to have worked, with Andrew Broder on guitar and vocals, Jeremy Ylvisaker on lead guitar and vocals, Mark Erickson on bass, and Martin Dosh on drums. The band then decided on the name “The Cloak Ox,” a Tibetan children’s game of mystery. Looks like the name suits their image quite well. If you’re listening to some songs, you might hear undertones of various genres. Confused? Well, their unique sound could be attributed to the fact that each band member brings his own twist of a different genre. While Marty provides a jazz fusion, Mark brings country soul to the table, Jeremy offers up some hard rock and heavy metal influence, and lastly there’s even rap influence provided by Andrew. This diversity extends to their musical influences as well, which include Kendrick Lamar, the xx, Spoon, Jai Paul, ambient Don Henley, Steely Dan, The Beatles, White Lion, Paul Simon and many many more.
Another quality that distinguishes the band from the droves of bands out there nowadays is their attitude, complete and utter confidence. “We are just better than them, plain and simple. Better than all the bands.” That’s quite a statement to make, but if you really listen to the songs on Bandcamp, you find that each song is strikingly different the next, in terms of lyric quality, melody, and vibe. “Prison” just has this overall catchy hook in the beginning that makes you want to jump around and when the vocals start there’s an inexplicable intensity infused with an ease in which the growling vocals are sung. Somehow it’s reminiscent of old school rock and suggests that this band will be one of the rare ones to stand the test of time. The band does a one eighty in “Wax Museum,” providing this eclectic, almost eccentric, vibe that almost makes the audience uncomfortable and unsettled with the melody, but at the same time soothed by the soft vocals.
The lyrics, usually written by Andrew Broder in batches after the melody is created, are inspired by “Day to day life. Small things. Small, insignificant feelings. Awkward moments…stumbling around insane inner monologue…awareness.” With these inspirations in mind, the band centered their album around a central theme of courage, and they left it at that. Courage to express small insignificant feelings that might be lurking underneath? Courage to be aware of awkward moments? It’s not quite obvious the connection but then again here comes The Cloak Ox being increasingly elusive. Perhaps that’s another thing that’s a part of their appeal, this elusive understanding of them and their lyrics that allows the audience their own interpretations of the band’s music.
However, to reach this point, the band took as many takes as necessary to get the song just right in the studio. Furthermore, it’s not as if the band didn’t have any struggles. Their biggest challenge is getting their name out there and their current best solution is to continue to do interviews and continue their confidence in themselves in order to convince other people to give their songs a try.
Well, what can you expect from the band in the near future? In the past month, The Cloak Ox has been rehearsing two new songs, rearranging a couple old ones, and going to the studio with BJ Burton to record and rehearse. Over the next six months, they will do a tour with Volcano Choir, hopefully release an EP of new material, go to SXSW, and somehow defy all odds to become hugely successful in the pop rock arena. Easier said than done, but if anyone can do it, it’s The Cloak Ox.
