discography

---

olly oxen free

(2008, Dovecote Records, release date September 23rd)

1. Fog
2. Point A to Point B
3. Lock and Key
4. Only a Moment
5. Out Dragging the River
6. In the Mirror
7. Downpour
8. Shiny
9. Alone
10. Safe for the Time Being

info:

coming soon.

buy it:

release date September 23rd

reviews:

Detroit Free Press - "Olly Oxen Free (FOUR STARS out of four stars...) is an intelligent, multilayered work... All the songs lean toward the angular and unusual, never quite going where you expect them to. Credit Mason Proper for delivering something far more imaginative than most indie-rock fare."

The Tripwire - "...a solid listen from start to finish, each song has it’s own sound that is just as exciting as the last. Their unique fusion of geeky indie rock, drum and bass and hook-laced lyrics make for an irresistible forbidden fruit that everyone must try."

Absolute Punk - "92% - Here's 'the' record; the one that allows me to swoon and feel plugged in to hipness' oozing core. Olly Oxen Free, Mason Proper's second 2008 release after their similarly excellent digital EP Shorthand, could hardly fit more brilliance and understated creativity into its ten songs."

lyrics:

Fog

My horoscope, said "pack your bags"
Running low on hope, I can't get back
Made a hole in my head, then forgot why i did, you're all gone.
Made a run for a gate, but there's laws in this state, you're all gone.

I tried to warn you, but you were out of your head
I tried to hold you back.
I tried to warn you, but you were out of your head

i'll meet you in the fog again
and between you and i we can
make some sense of this
drank the dirt, ate the sand,
tried to get full on whatever i had on hand

I found a crystal ball, but I lost it.
I bought a tea leaf to find out where you are
but i drank it
only seer i could find
told me lies, told me you were just fine
burned her place to the ground
i'm regretting it now
that ain't ever right.

I tried to warn you, but you were out of your head
I tried to hold you back.
I tried to warn you, but you were out of your head

Point A to Point B

dark stained wooden table
i'll breathe when i am able
for now i'll hold it in
with all of my
disembodied and
unassociated sounds of departure
for the night

and finally breathing pitch black until
i had emptied out the till
heard the tires squeal
but you won't right?

i swore to myself
last time was the last time

in past lives i was wealthy
so probably unhappy
oh i'm so glad i died
i travel from point a, to point b, to point c
trying to lose more points along the way
to get lower
i travel from point a, to point b, to point c
trying to fall from grace along the way
to get lower and lower and lower

Lock and Key

We saw the sun was going down
through the iron bar spiderwebs
they turned the key
but we were already dead
we were already stone dead

We are the wind tonight
blowing up blowing down blowing left and right
shake shake 'cause we put that chill in your bones tonight
take that lock and key and shove it

Caught every lightning bug out in the yard
not a lone breath leaks the lips
as they come to grips with this.

We left them there and drifted west
when you and I coalesced

Later on, one swore he saw us open the jar
all the chemicals luminesce in their chests
and shine right through
kinda like me and you
kinda like me and you do

Only a Moment

down that twisted path, you can find us there
up those spiral stairs, we plan and prepare
you can find us there

it was only a moment, it came and it went
just like every moment any god ever sent
it was only a moment in time and there is no time
there is no time

i signed my name on the dotted line
with an x.

oh, don't you worry, don't worry
we'll take care of it.

it was only a moment, it came and it went
just like every moment any god ever sent
it was only a moment in time and there is no time
there is no time

are you kidding?  nevermind.
fine, keep me right.
it'll rise to take you another time.

Out Dragging the River

he wrote it with a crabbed hand
an ageless plastic poem
but no one needs to read it
it's nothing we don't already know

cause we're out dragging the river
trying to find something missing
but everyone we know is here
and nothing that we have is gone

i think i'm through with the fighting
chopped off my heavy, heavy hands
i see the blue spot fading
keep it down, keep it down,
i'm caught in my own net.
i think i'm through with the fighting
two turns away from turning blue
you can watch if you want to.

they said he's just a crusty addict
lurking in dusty attics
and tapping on your pipes at night.
the sounds are pretty though
a pickled caterpillar
sleeping salty in his pocket
not everything he has is here
but no one he wants is gone

In the Mirror

feeding on fleas when i happen to seize them.
olly olly olly oxen free

i'm cornered in a circular room
feeding on fleas when i happen to seize them.
olly olly olly oxen free.

and feeding on flies though
i truly despise to.

in the mirror, in the mirror, in the mirror, in the mirror

in the mirror, in the mirror
i can see her
but i can't trust my own eyes
it's unclear

Downpour

your voice is going hollow when
ever the night starts caving in
the walls are growing thin
but i think they'll hold

at least another hour or so
they'll keep off the onslaught
they'll keep out the downpour
can we ask for more?

i'll find you something shiny
to distract you from all that might ensue
just keep it close to you
but don't tell a soul

goes double for your own, you know
but when i go, i'm not gone
i'm just too close for your eyes
to focus on

Shiny

i saw something in the woods that i quite liked.
something strange.
i bit my lip,
i took a train
back to the city where i was raised.
and i can't recall what it was i was i was doing there at all
you were there too, with your hat on
i showed you something, i showed you something
shiny

secrets, oh...  i only know one
but it's a doozy...  made me change.
we got a plan
i'll see it through
i'm going back.
you're coming too.

and i can't recall what it was i was i was doing there at all
you were there too, with your hat on
i showed you something, i showed you something shiny
something shiny
it'll take over your mind, okay, hey hey aw hey hey aw heye hayeh aeyhaeyeha

Alone

four hundred people on this block
shaking hands, yes they're doing good
cause business is good
and being polite makes everything go real smoothly
swarms of aunts and uncles with tiny hands
crossing roads, looking both ways
and weighing the pros and the cons of that step
but they'll cross that bridge when they get there

i am a totally different person when i'm alone

forty-odd thousand, twenty-something tiny dots
shuffled into a box
where we're sorted and shuffled back
with a certified false sense of big bad dot-dom.

and we shimmy and shake and vibrate
on the same strands of energy we've always been stuck to
i'd love to jump across one day
try to change states

i am a totally different person when i'm alone

Safe for the Time Being

oh my god, there's no one left
oh my god, the covers have all been torn
a warning we all ignored

oh my god, oh, save yourself,
the loonies are right, so why would i lullaby
alone?

crawling out all your highways
follow a swarm of flies
heart choked dreamin' / sordid night
over the golden eyes
(heart choked dreamin)
starting to lose it over the golden eyes
heart choked dreamin / sordid night

oh my god, this fog all around's
the breath of a friend face down
he's coughin' but sleeping sound

oh my god, gotta save the sleeper
but how?
the buzzin' is dying down
the trail is cold we're crawling out all your highways

we're safe for the time being
we are safe for the time being