Camera Obscura - 'Lets Get Out of This Country'

The difficulty in writing about a Camera Obscura effort is that it all sounds the same. The eighties didn't happen, ecstasy hasn't been invented and there's certainly no urban flava clogging up the airwaves in Camera Obscura's world. Yet they have an enormous fanbase and are actually an excellent band. Backwards looking but charming, even as every song blends into one it induces the sort of bliss normally conned off a gullible doctor. Nothing changes in the world of Belle and Sebastian fans, and Camera Obscura live in the cold dell of their shadow. Just a hint that they're living in the real world would make them a thousand times more exciting. [Jasper Hamill]