Summer Camp - Welcome To Condale

Source: The List (Issue 689)
Date: 19 October 2011
Written by: Camilla Pia

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Seeped in nostalgia and one of the smartest synth pop romp of the year

(Apricot Recording Company/Moshi Moshi)

Summer Camp’s music is seeped in nostalgia, but the London duo pay homage to the past cleverly; their 1980s’ teen flicks-inspired debut thankfully free of the usual pitfalls of cynical pastiche and straight copycat-ing. On screen spoken word samples are dropped into tracks driven by twinkling electronics, drum machine beats, growling riffs and swoon-worthy soaring melodies – producer Steve Mackey (of Pulp fame) imbues Welcome To Condale with a warm, lo-fi reverie.

The bouncy ‘Better Off Without You’, ‘Brian Krakow’, ‘Losing My Mind’ and ‘Last American Virgin’ are all must-hears, as Elizabeth Sankey and Jeremy Warmsley take turns to lead us through tales of outsiders, loners and prom queens falling in and out of love. The smartest synth pop romp of the year.