Camera Obscura
Let’s Get Out Of This Country
Merge Records

History has shown us plenty of bands who, early on their careers, had a sound that they clung to for dear life (The Ramones, The Beatles) and that served them quite well. Following along those lines is the Scottish pop group, Camera Obscura, who have recently put out their third full-length of ’60s throwback pop music that drips with reverb. For the most part, it is relieving to hear a group stick to what they know best and playing up their strengths, but it quickly becomes a challenge for a reviewer who would like to hear, well, something different.

Don’t get me wrong, the band has progressed quite nicely on this album. For the most part, the band has put their country/western fascination on the back burner and allowed their Joe Meek producing Lee Hazelwood dreams to take full blossom on this record. Still, it doesn’t sound that dissimilar from their previous efforts in any significant way which may or may not be a good thing. It would sound ridiculous for the group to try a complete stylistic shift and, as I’m sure I’ve said before, any song that you write is essentially going to be the sum total of your influences, but still, I was expecting a least a small step forward on the band’s part.

It is a lovely collection of songs, held up almost entirely by the sugary sweet vocals of Tracyanne Campbell and Carey Lander, but over the course of the album, the overabundance of instrumentation and bordering on ironic production style starts to get in the way of what are potentially brilliant songs. For example, “Come Back Margaret” starts with a echo-laden drum kick and a Phil Spector-like string arrangement. As Campbell pleads with the titular character to hurry home, the overdubs just keep coming: Farfisa, percussion, more organ, handclaps, guitar, and backing vocals. By the song’s end, the music is as thick as a cloud and you can almost feel the weight of it all on your shoulders. This is pretty typical of most of the songs on this album. Even the ebulliant opener, “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken” (a strong contender for single of the year), and the hard swinging “If Looks Could Kill” come out of the speakers in thick waves you can chip through with an ice axe.

Besides the aforementioned golden singing voices here, what the band does have going for it (which makes up for almost any overproduction here) is their intuitive and almost supernatural sense for writing a nearly flawless pop song. Would we be given the ability to strip these songs down to their frames (and anyone who has seen them live can get a good sense of what this could sound like), what you would be left with are three-minute near classics, filled with candy-coated harmonies that will stake a place in your brain for weeks on end.

MP3
I Need All the Friends I Can Get

Websites
http://www.camera-obscura.net
http://www.mergerecords.com