CD Odyssey Disc 1814: Camp Cope

Greetings, gentle readers. Before the review, a personal note. I come to you today from a place of great happiness and contentment, as I celebrate my wedding anniversary this weekend with my lovely wife, S.

Thanks for being the absolute best life partner a man could ever wish for, darling.

OK, on with the music.

Disc 1814 is…How to Socialise & Make Friends

Artist: Camp Cope

Year of Release: 2018

What’s up with the Cover? Frontwoman Georgia Maq is too cool to ride in the car with rest of the band, but everyone looks to be having a lot of fun with her antics. While I’m sure riding untethered on the roof of a moving car is totally safe, I must warn you about that cigarette, Georgia! Cigarettes cause cancer!

How I Came To Know It: I read a review of this record and decided to check it out. I liked what I heard and ended up a fan of the band.

How It Stacks Up: I have all of Camp Cope’s records, but that’s only three. They have now broken up, so barring an unexpected reunion, three is all there is going to be. “How to Socialise & Make Friends” is my second favourite, despite the presence of that repulsive and unnecessary ampersand in its title (use your words!).

As this is the last Camp Cope album to review, here is the full recap:

1. Running with the Hurricane: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1581)
2. How to Socialise & Make Friends: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
3. Self-Titled: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1722)

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

“How to Socialise & Make Friends” is a downer, but downer albums can be beautiful too.

On their sophomore record, Camp Cope double down on their unique indie rock/throwback eighties Goth sound and create a record that is both emotionally raw and thoughtful. It’s hard to stay thoughtful when you are feeling the feels as much as singer Georgia Maq is on this record, but they manage it. Even in the depths of despair, Maq is able to find the artistic space to critique both an unkind world, and her own place in it.

The album starts with the viscerally angry “The Opener”. If you believe that anger is one of the seven deadly sins, then expect Camp Cope to sin a lot on this tune. Maq sings about the unfair treatment of women by gaslighting boyfriends, soulless record execs, and condescending concert promoters. She takes a shot at pretty much every man who has ever done anything shitty ever and then hulked off into the darkness, oblivious to the harm he’d done. If you’re a dude and find this song offensive then congratulations – it is probably about you.

I should note at this point that everything is cathartic when sung by Georgia Maq. She possesses a ‘blow down the walls of Constantinople’ kind of vocal power. Her voice is the kind of wind that can wreck ships, and topple trees, deep, raw and coming from some deep well of hurt and hellfire most singers simply can’t plumb.

If you’re angered out after the “Opener” don’t worry, a few songs later you can wallow in the sadness of lost love on “Anna”. It starts with:

“She packed all her bags and went on her way
Back to Adelaide
The cat's been crying out
Wandering all alone around the house, saying
I really hope you're happy where you are now”

As if the breakup wasn’t hard, Georgia, but did you have to bring the cat’s separation anxiety into it? You can’t even explain to the cat why Anna’s no longer around.  Maybe the best metaphor available for love lost. Sometimes it just fucking happens, and cry all you like the universe isn’t going to give you any explanation for it.

A big part of what makes Camp Cope exceptional is the bass guitar work of Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich and she is at her best on this record. Hellmrich is the perfect complement to Georgia Maq, playing big, round notes loaded with emotional undertow. You need a low and powerful counter to Maq, lest the record descend into melodrama. Hellmrich is the balance holding things together at the low end, and around which the vocals can orbit.

There are times when the record can veer toward the maudlin, and while the talents of the band are sufficient to hold things on the road most of the time, listening to this record full-through is an experience, and not always an easy one.

The over-sharing is brave and has the flavour of that weird girl in your Grade 9 class who’s always writing poetry during English class. But then you befriend her and get to read those poems and realize, “holy shit, these are really fucking good.” That’s Camp Cope.

Best tracks: The Opener, Anna, The Omen, UFO Lighter

CD Odyssey Disc 1722: Camp Cope

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey, and the second album in a row that is self-titled, or as folks say when they’re feeling high- falutin, “eponymous”.

Disc 1722 is…Self-Titled

Artist: Camp Cope

Year of Release: 2016

What’s up with the Cover?  A toddler who appears to be wrapped in some medical bandages. Whatever the accident was, her smile suggests the suffering at present is thankfully contained.

While I'm glad the kid appears to be on the mend, I found I was mostly fixated on the food she is offhandedly holding in her right hand. The gaping mouth suggests she will joyfully chew that food with her mouth open. That’s if we’re lucky. With a child this age getting food into the mouth where it belongs is far from certain. More often than not, it will instead fall out of her hand, get covered in cat hair, retrieved and then eaten. Or it may just be offhandedly stamped into the shag carpet by her foot as she heads off in search of other mischief. All three possibilities are gross.

As you may have surmised, I do not have children.

How I Came To Know It: I heard about Camp Cope through their 2018 release, “How to Socialise and Make Friends” and this was me digging into their back catalogue.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Camp Cope albums. Their self-titled debut lands at #3, but is still great.

Rating: 3 stars

If you like your debut albums raw and bleeding, then Camp Cope’s first effort will be very welcome. Right out of the gate the Australian trio hold nothing back, delivering tight alternative rock songs that blend anger, anxiety, and stark, vulnerable lyrics.

The band is every bit a cohesive whole, and while it would be easy to focus on Georgia Maq’s powerful vocals, the sum of all the instruments together is what creates the magic. Maq eventually went on to do a solo record but it doesn’t hold the magic that Camp Cope possessed from the beginning.

Nevertheless, we’ll start with the frontwoman (lead singers like this). Georgia Maq’s voice is big, brassy and sprawls its way across these songs, always on the edge of breakdown, and riding that edge like a massive wave. She belts and she bawls, and she feels the feels in every line.

Often the topics are hard ones. The disconnection in the chorus of “Flesh & Electricity”:

“I've been desensitized to the human body
That I could look at you naked and all I'd see would be anatomy
You're just bones and insecurity
Flesh and electricity to me”

And the social commentary on “Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams”:

“Hearing catcalls from a construction yard
They'll say "Take it as a compliment, they're only being nice"
There's a far too common lie
And you carry keys between your knuckles when you walk alone at night”

These are hard topics and Georgia Maq sings them in a way to maximize just how hard they are, confronting you with hard topics. She explores internal uncertainty and external anger with equal unfiltered emotion. Also, I should note that the jet fuel reference in the song is a reference to a conspiracy theory she’s challenging, not something she thinks.

Maq is also the band’s guitar player, and she matches the unbridled energy of her vocals with her instrument, banging out chords with the wild abandon of a busker trying to play over the sounds of traffic. This doesn’t compete with her voice, it amplifies it, a la early Billy Bragg. It creates an orchestra much bigger than you’d expect from almost any three-piece you can think of not called Rush.

The mix is very even, and this is a good thing because it lets you also appreciate the brilliant bass-playing of Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich. Her style feels reminiscent of the Cure’s Simon Gallup, adding an eighties throwback quality to the otherwise grungy feel of Camp Cope.

The songs can be painful, with anxiety a common thread through many of them, but there is catharsis in listening. Like you could shout out the bad if only you could yell long enough. Does it feel excessively grumpy sometimes? Yes, but it is an earned grumpiness, making you perfectly happy to join in for an uncommonly boisterous sulk.

Best tracks: Flesh & Electricity, Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams, Stove Lighter, Song For Charlie

CD Odyssey Disc 1581: Camp Cope

Despite it already being late August this is only the third review of an album released in 2022. I promise I have bought a bunch; that’s just how the random element works sometimes.

Disc 1581 is…. Running with the Hurricane

Artist: Camp Cope

Year of Release: 2022

What’s up with the Cover?  It’s the band running, although I don’t see any sign of a hurricane. It looks more like they are running from the sunrise. Like maybe this was filmed on the planet Crematoria, from the 2004 movie “Chronicles of Riddick” in which our heroes can literally outrun the sunrise and survive the blistering heat of the sun by hiding in shadows. Here Camp Cope attempts the same maneuver, but given the flat nature of the landscape, I don’t like their chances.

But I digress…

How I Came To Know It: I have known about the band since their 2018 release, “How To Socialise and Make Friends” so this was me just checking out their latest record.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Camp Cope albums, which is all of them. “Running with the Hurricane” comes in at #1. The best!

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

I imagine Camp Cope is not the camp you would have wanted to attend as a kid – sounds like a place where the camp counsellors spend most of their time grief counselling you. Fortunately, while heartfelt expressions of coping with the world make for a bad summer vacation, they can also make for some pretty great rock and roll.

“Running with the Hurricane” is Camp Cope’s third record and is their best to date, partly because the songs are that much stronger, and partly because they achieve exactly the right balance between wallow and celebration. While lead singer Georgia ‘Maq’ McDonald tends to explore the depths of longing and uncertainty, on this latest record she does it in a way that signifies hope has arrived or, failing that, is just around the corner.

It is also Georgia Maq’s best vocal performance to date. In her lower register Maq has the power to crack a concrete foundation, but she also has a surprising sweetness when she wants to go high. She also does what can sometimes seem the impossible task; tagging a birdsong-like run at the end of a melody without having it feel forced or artificial. Contestants on live singing shows take note – when done correctly a run is a thing of beauty, not a chance to elicit the votes of rubes clueless to the fact that data rates may apply.

The other prominent feature of this record was how bass-forward it is. I guess I should’ve expected it, with Kelly Dawn Hellmrich listed as “lead bass guitar.” Hellmrich’s bass lines are easily the co-lead to Maq’s vocals, and songs like “Caroline” and the title track are glorious intersections of Concrete Blonde and the Cure (and no, “Caroline” is not the Concrete Blonde tune. I’m assuming that title is just a coincidence).

The more listens I gave this album the more I came to appreciate Hellmrich’s bass. It isn’t something I often notice on rock records, but it is so intrinsic to these compositions, you can’t help but turn your ear in that direction.

While this record has some hard moments the themes are primarily positive. Many of the songs are about coming through difficult times and finding something better at the end of it. The record ends with “Sing Your Heart Out” where Georgia Maq does exactly that. After all that glorious bass action, the band takes it down a notch here, opting for an emotionally resonant piano. It features Maq’s finest vocal moments on the record, which is saying something. However, nothing speaks to the record better than the lyrics, “You’re singing off key/but it don’t bother me, baby. Sing your heart out.” This song breaks your heart, and then reforges it into something stronger, all in under four minutes.

My only warning on this record, is that Maq sings in an overwrought style. This is exactly what these songs calls for and I see it as a feature and not a bug, but you have to be in the right mood for the experience. For maximum impact, you need to throw yourself into the crucible of feelings and melt with her. This is a record for immersion, not idle background play.

Best tracks: Caroline, Running with the Hurricane, Blue, Sing Your Heart Out