Eugene Robinson, co-founding lead vocalist and songwriter of San Francisco noise rock unit Oxbow, has announced his exit from the band after over three decades.
Writing on Substack, Robinson explained that his leave comes due to "irreconcilable differences, none of them aesthetic or musical."
"Recent circumstances have caused me several dark nights of the soul and while it feels/seems crazy to kill my involvement in that which I started, I think it necessary so that maybe a kind of healing can take place that will make OXBOW a comfortable place for me to be again. If not, then not," he writes.
Robinson notes how the final five shows of Oxbow's current European tour were scrapped, "and I'm sitting in a cheap hotel in Fuengirola, Spain, thinking of how the band began, and how the last video we just released from [2023 album Love's Holiday] was so aptly named. 'All Gone' it was and perhaps seems to be."
Oxbow have yet to release an official statement on Robinson's departure. You can read the vocalist's complete announcement via Substack.
Robinson and guitarist Niko Wenner founded Oxbow in 1988 in San Francisco after performing together in the band Whipping Boy. The following year, Oxbow made their debut with Fuckfest, released to critical acclaim.
In the mid-'90s, the band recorded a pair of albums with late producer Steve Albini: Let Me Be a Woman and Serenade in Red.