On
A Camp's Web site, the band explains why it recently covered Grace Jones' "Done It Again," saying, "The song manages to simultaneously seem nearly asleep and yet totally insane (in the best way), full of this world-weary sadness, plus a rage deep in there somewhere." That quote also serves as a fine description for A Camp's music. On its sophomore release, Colonia, the trio of Cardigans' singer Nina Persson, her husband and former Shudder to Think multi-instrumentalist Nathan Larson, and Swedish guitarist Niclas Frisk proffer thorny lyrics pricking up through the surface veneer of seriously smooth music. The horn-driven soul of "My America" sounds all sweet and lovely, until you notice that the chemically enhanced falling snow places "a filter of ash on the sunrise." On "Here Are Many Wild Animals," the band plays swishy girl-group pop over which Persson purrs, "Now we live in a playground eating our young." Then there's the supercatchy ballad "Stronger than Jesus," which could be played at the prom if it weren't for lyrics like "Don't you know love is stronger than Jesus?/Don't you know love can kill anyone?/Bring it on, wars and diseases/You know love can do you like a shotgun." Talk about spiking the punch.
Gentleman Reg and Rubies open.
Sun., June 14, 8 p.m., 2009
