!earshot Top 200 of 2021

Getting Ready for the Second Coming of Ox

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Ox: Ruby Loves U, Mark Browning,
Josh Turnbull and Ryan BishopsIt’s been a few months since I last got to speak with Mark Browning; frontman, principle songwriter, and creative genius behind Vancouver-Sudbury based alt-rock legend-in-the-making, Ox. He’s let his beard grow out quite a bit and, despite his lemon-fresh scent, he tells me he hasn’t had much time to do laundry lately. Frankly, I believe him.
No, not because of the look of his t-shirt or the stains on his pants, but because I know that Mark would never lie to me. Not about anything trivial anyway.
And so, deep in the heart of Vancouver, huddled on a patio under an enormous Family Guy billboard for thousands of Skytrain passengers to see every day, I can’t help but ask the burning question that’s been smoldering inside me since I first heard his 2003 alt-rock epic Dust Bowl Revival.
“Mark, are you a kleptomaniac?”
He laughs.
I’m sure those of you who heard Dust Bowl have noticed it too. Bare, beautiful, and achingly inspiring rock songs that conjure up the most vivid imagery of love, heartbreak, self-fulfillment, hooliganism and, somewhere at the bottom of the list, the youthful theft of an automobile or two. Oddly enough, it’s songs like “Stolen Car,” “LA City,” and “Stolen Bike” that stir up the strongest emotions in DBR, or are at least the most fun to sing along to.
“No, seriously, I mean, do you have an obsession with stealing cars and bikes and other modes of transportation?Are you a klepto?
“Not so much stealing modes of transportation… just… stealing.”
“What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever stolen?
Browning thinks to himself for a moment, a smile growing on his face.
“Somebody’s song.”
This time, we both laugh.
“I steal Neil Young songs all the time, hasn’t anyone noticed that?” he says, grinning broadly. “Actually there was this one critic in the States that noticed that. But he To me it's Frank Zappa meets Velvet Underground; it's two steps in the right direction for us. didn’t get it. Fucking idiot. This is my way to get back at the critics, isn’t it? Bitch about other critics in another interview!”
I’ll admit though; despite his sarcasm, the guy about whom Browning refers has a point. If ever I’ve heard anything about Browning’s work under the Ox moniker, it’s that he sounds just like Neil Young. Never, however, have I heard it used as a criticism.
“Bad reviews are great. They mean someone’s being inspired. Being inspired to hate your record is just as good as being inspired to love your record. So obviously, this had happened with this guy, and he was really down on it. He hated everything too, it was great. He hated the sound of my voice, he hated the guitar sounds, he just hated everything. He seems to be one of those people that totally hold these old guys with such reverence, you know, like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, you can’t fuck with them. The Beatles, they’re perfect, they’re gods. But no, they’re just a bunch of assholes like we are, they’re not gods.

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