Weird but Undoubtedly Wonderful
BC Camplight is a strange creation, opening song, 'Suffer For Two' introduces us perfectly to his sprightly synth-driven tunes that bounce along despite the somewhat mournful refrain, "Suffer all day and night wonder if you'll ever do a single thing right in your life". The album graphics bear the same kind of contradiction, the comic book style would be more usual adorning the front of a punk pop band, but perhaps here they just reflect BC Camplight's ability to self parody. Indeed Camplight says that he spent a lot of time whilst creating this album talking to people in New Jersey jail and mental hospitals, using vignettes from their lives as a basis for these quirky pop songs embellished with all manner of glittering percussive additions, most of these tunes can literally be said to have bells on.
'Werewolf Waltz' is just as you may expect from the title, a superb pairing of the otherworldy with a beautiful waltz that whisk the listener round in its brief but inspiring duration. 'Soy Tonto!' is a smooth, bluesy tune with a dreamy, ethereal feel drifting in and out over brass licks and vamping pianos and theremin wails that could have come straight from The Beach Boys, it's another curious mix of funky tunes and painfully blunt lyrics, "I'm not talking to you".
The lilting tones of tunes like 'The Hip and the Homeless' will have you drifting in a tropical paradise, where the charming tune protects you from the lyrical abrasiveness like an immunisation from the horrors of the real world. The lush vocal harmonies o 'Officer Down' have a theatrical ease about them, carrying you along with the breezy verses, however soon even a snarling guitar kicks in building to a sensational peak of suspense. 'I've Got A Bad Cold' is as infectious as the illness it describes with layers of barber's shop quartet vocals piled on top of each other to create an utterly daft but tremendous 2-minute drama which recalls runny noses and chills. Bask a few hours in 'Blink Of A Nihilist's' calm warmth and BC Camplight will subconsciously educate you while you curl up in the rich sonic blanket that's present in each and every tune.
'Blink Of A Nihilist' is a quirky little gem that should find a place in the heart of every leftfield indie fan who likes the idea of sunny pop tunes galvanised with humour and sincerity at the same time.