keepers 5
keeper avg .500
I don't know if Camera Obscura and The Shins are really peers, but similar sounds, energetic 60's pop like the Beach Boys, and girl groups, seem to connect the two, more so than countrymen Belle and Sebastian which they had been frequently compared to. But of these aughts bands one has had orders of magnitude more success. Why this album, or at least its radiant opener "LLoyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken"*****, wasn't a staple on my local adult alternative radio station like The Shins were is beyond me. The combination of hooky riffs and unexpected melody is at least as memorable as The Shins' deservedly-successful hit "Phantom Limb", which came out the next year. The hoppy "If Looks Could Kill"**** is simpler but even more energetic, and "Razzle Dazzle Rose", while Bell And Sebastian-like, is smooth and subtle. They also especially succeed at quiet melancholy in the weepy country ballad "Dory Previn"**** and dreamy "Country Mile"****. Only two clunkers, the title song and "I Need All The Friends I Can Get", both of which fall apart listlessly at the end of the chorus. But rare is the album that comes across as consistently great as this one (which Wincing The Night Away Does Not).
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