Camera Obscura Album: “Underachievers Please Try Harder”

Seems like many people are mad that this isn't Bell & Sebastian. Well, It's not. It's probably closer to the stylings of The Clientelle or late era Yo La Tengo -- and they're not Scottish...?

Anyway, there are few, if any, synths -- the warm recording and instrumentation are all they need to make their music work. The girl/boy vocals are each unlike anything sung in at least 20 years and together just make me want to melt.

Also, fans of Saturday Looks Good to Me will enjoy, but I must warn you -- this album never really rocks out. It keeps a cool melodic additude throughout. Lunar Sea is bliss.

i've been listening to this for three days now, with very little in between. see, normally, i listen to various music which would fall under the categories indie and emo, but not just to be emo. before i found this i was on an at the drive-in binge mixed in with some drive like jehu, sparta, million dead, fugazi and cursive. i saw this album on some emo girl's xanga, and though i usually don't trust emo girl's music taste, i liked the cover, and figured i'd get it and see how i liked it. i have no idea what anybody means by folk pop, because this doesn't seem related to the folk im familiar with, except that it's pretty much oblivious to subject matter. but anyway...this album is really great...production, tracyanne's voice, the beats and selection of instruments. my only complaint is the guy's singing. it's not unbearable but close. especially on the song "your picture". i have to skip over that now, it's like they give him the least rhythmic songs to sing on too. the two bonus tracks aren't really very necessary either. this album isn't emo - i didn't even have to say that - but it is something people could appreciate for...the same reason. make sense? best songs are "suspended from class", "teenager", "number one son" and "lunar sea". light one up and put this cd on, it'll feel good.

people do need to remember that B&S themselves owe a huge debt to Scottish musicians such as Donovan, as well as bands such as Love (from whom they got massive amounts of musical ideas, i.e. every horn arrangement they've done) in terms of sound and structure. that doesn't make them derivative, however. just more in a long line of excellent quietish chamber pop bands from the British Isles. that said, i agree with both sides, really. there are flashes of brilliance here, but at the same time it can get a bit too B&Sy for its own good. so, not a masterpiece, but not a complete waste, either.

Dont listen to the first review, this record is ace. The vocals are very beautiful and genuine. Overall, this record has an intimate bewitching beauty that drags you in with each listen.

Anyone hearing Camera Obscura for the first time will instantly be reminded of Belle and Sebastian, especially if they are aware that both bands hail from Glasgow. There is no question that Belle and Sebastian is the major influence on the band; even if they have other influences--and one can hear many in their music--this one predominates. It isn't just that Camera Obscura's singer (and a very sweet singer she is) Tracyanne Campbell sounds a lot like Belle and Sebastian's Isobel Campbell (apparently no relation--but, then, isn't "Campbell" in Scotland like "Smith" in the US?). The arrangements and feel and touch of the band sound terribly like B & S. That one city could turn out two such exquisite indie pop bands is pretty remarkable, even if the one sounds a lot like the other.

But though Camera Obscura reminds one of Belle and Sebastian, the resemblence never, ever gets in the way of the music. Both bands generate a feeling of joy and delight when I listen to them.

The only complaint I have with UNDERACHIEVERS PLEASE TRY HARDER is that they have packed their very best songs at the beginning of the album. My two favorite songs on the disc are the fine "Suspended from Class" and the even finer (and very, very Belle and Sebastianesque) "Keep It Clean." My next favorite song, however, might be "A Sister's Social Agony." Mind you, the rest of the album never truly disappoints, but it seems a bit of a downer to kick things off with such great songs and then never quite get back up to that level. Of course, this might just be me. Another fan might enjoy later cuts more. But I'm in love with "Keep It Clean." It currently is in my Top 25 Most Played list on my iPod. I love everything about the song, its casual, melodic guitar work, the delicate electric piano, and most of all Tracyanne Campbell's relaxed, almost flippant singing. I delight in the way she is so patient with the words that she sometimes seems to finish a line merely as an afterthought. It is one of those songs that I sometimes will play if I'm having a tough day. It never failed to lighten my mood and make me just a little bit happier than I was.

One thing that excites me about Camera Obscura is that they apparently are improving with each album. I very much enjoyed their first album, BIGGEST, BLUEST HI-FI, but this album was a definite improvement over that. And their most recent album, LET'S GET OUT OF THIS COUNTRY (the best song off that one, the stunning "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken," has achieved some success as a single), is even better. It was better, in fact, than Belle and Sebastian's own 2006 release, THE LIFE PURSUIT. So who knows, perhaps the best is yet to come.