Tip for 2010: Summer Camp

With a name as difficult to search for as 2009’s Girls, and the fact that we’re entirely unsure who exactly they/he/she is/are, perhaps-Swedish-and-now-living-in-London x-piece Summer Camp have done an incredible job of getting me to play their songs on repeat for days on end at the tail of 2009. That the photo on the left is one of a select few on their MySpace and seems to embody the notion of girls at a Swedish ’70s/’80s crossover summer camp so darn well is just part of the fun.

Whether they actually met at a Swedish summer camp at the age of 14 as they say is unknown, as is the number of them involved in the band, whether they’re actually Swedish, whether they’re OAPs, kids etc. It’s that old adage of wanting to know the bits you’re kept away from, and not being interested when they’re there.

But while this may seem a gimmick enough in itself, it’s the music rather than the rhapsody that’s got me. The five songs available on the MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/morganwaves) are astounding, reaching Best Band of 2009 levels even without so much as a single release.

The five songs open with quotes from staple ’80s flicks (John Hughes, you know the sort), setting out Summer Camp’s vervy, knowing-bittersweetness.

Take ‘Ghost Train’, a wash of nostalgia placed carefully on top of teen-heartbreak-esque “ba ba ba”s, long-held-onto notes by the female vocalist and shiny, glimmering synths loitering a few spaces back. It sounds touchable, full of wist and wooziness. Such is the addictive nature of ‘Ghost Train’, currently being screamed about but those in the know, that I can only listen to it in 30-minute periods.

And then there’s their cover of ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’, a cover of a song written for Dames, a musical from the 1930s. Summer Camp hand-pick moments from bygone eras far from your common-place reference. The thing in common is once again a heartfelt  melodrama which fits nicely with Summer Camp’s musical cryptogram.

‘Why Don’t You Stay’, also available on the MySpace, is an even gentler affair, woozily doo-wopping through its path. It’s the sound of years of yearning bottled up and finally set free. ‘Round The Moon’, only made available to the world on December 22, is as beautiful as ever, but this time featuring a new male vocal. The lyrics are so muffled that meaning only comes from the rising and falling pitch, and the background “oh”-ing.

Summer Camp are a band your life will be better with. Go have a listen now: http://www.myspace.com/morganwaves