Oxford's Spring Offensive are signed to Burning Building Recordings.

There have been many bands that have sprung to American success from British shores – too many to mention here, in fact. From The Beatles and the Stones to Coldplay and Mumford & Sons, via the likes of Radiohead and the Sex Pistols, Britain has somehow played a key role in writing the history of rock music. It must be something in the tea.

One of the latest British bands to try and break the American market is Oxford’s Spring Offensive, and if the quality of their debut album, Pull Us Apart, is anything to go by then their current (summer) offensive might produce some impressive results. Packed with memorable indie rock tunes and a whole bucketful of attitude, Pull Us Apart is a surprising and edgy debut, throwing everything from The Smiths to The Young Knives into the blender. There’s even a song about a man eating the entire contents of his wallet.

We caught up with Spring Offensive shortly after the US release of Pull Us Apart on Seattle’s Burning Building Recordings, to ask them about their album, their plans, and the Oxford scene.

Dan Coxon: Over here in the States we’re still catching up with you guys, so can you tell us a little about how you got together?

Spring Offensive: Sure! We started out at school, as so many bands do. We were fairly young and naive when we started out. A few line-up changes later, we recorded and released some tracks that were picked up on national radio over here. That’s what spurred us on to record, and eventually self-release, Pull Us Apart.

DC: Is it right that Pull Us Apart was actually recorded two years ago? Does it feel a little like a time capsule to you, listening to it now?

SO: It is, yeah. It was a record that was written all at once in one go, and we were focused entirely on those songs. So it’s natural that looking back on it, it reminds us of that time. It’s a nice kind of nostalgia. But a lot of those songs are still hugely important to us now in terms of our live set. So those ones have grown up with us, if you like.

DC: Several of the songs on the album have a very narrative feel to them. Was this a conscious decision, or do you just like telling stories?

SO: A lot of the bands we love deal in narratives of some sort. Bands like I Like Trains, or Death Cab, or Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Nick Cave has particularly literary narratives in lyrics. That’s something we aspire to. We don’t want to get pigeon-holed as a story-telling band though, and it’s not essential for great music, but it’s a way of engaging with the listener. It’s worked for centuries so there’s no reason to stop now!

DC: British bands over here always get compared to the same people (Coldplay, Radiohead)… but who do you admire among your contemporaries? Who should we be watching out for next?

SO: Yeah, we get the Radiohead thing here as well. In fact, all our peers here in Oxford do, apart from the metal ones. And some of the rappers. It’s a bit of pain, but people often don’t have a very broad musical understanding, and they need hooks to hang their reviews or opinions on. Oxford has so many great bands, bands like Foals and Stornoway, or smaller ones like Ute, Gunning For Tamar, Adam Barnes. They all get compared to Radiohead and they all sound completely different. Bands that we love at the moment are the Antlers, Wild Beasts, the National, Bon Iver, Dry The River… the list goes on.

DC: I read somewhere that you all moved to Oxford to start the band. Why Oxford? How has that move worked out for you?

SO: Oxford made sense to us because a few of us were studying and/or living there. We then fell in with a group of amazing musicians, all of whom know each other, because the town is so ridiculously small! The local scene is fantastic, and the fact that so many internationally acclaimed artists have come out of a city with a population of only 150,000 is testament to that. Plus it’s a beautiful medieval city. What more can you want? It’s worked out brilliantly. Oxford has really taken to us. Our home town shows are off the chain.

DC: I see that you’re all credited as producers on the album, too. Is this because you have a secret interest in music production, or do you just like to keep a tight hold on all aspects of the creative process?

SO: Well, we’re all involved in the creative process of recording and arranging. We’ve never actually worked with a producer. It’s not a big deal really. But we’ve always gone into the studio with a fairly firm idea of how the record should sound. Pull Us Apart is no exception. However, the engineer Ian Davenport, is a successful producer in his own right, and he obviously had a certain impact.

DC: And finally… what next from Spring Offensive? Is there another album in the pipeline?

SO: Currently we’re working on new material which is a progression from Pull Us Apart. We’re excited about it, but albums take time. It’s a longterm project really. We’re just thrilled that Pull Us Apart is doing so well over there. That’s enough for us just now!

Pull Us Apart is available now available via Amazon, iTunes, Bandcamp, or directly from the Burning Building Recordings website.