7/10
Favorite Track: "Revvin My CJ-7" Least Favorite Track: "Fast Furious and Wonderful"
In more ways than one the debut studio album from Texas indie duo Summer Salt sounds like the soundtrack to a honeymoon. The bands catalog up to this point has been gentle, charming, and subtlety full of fun. Their 2018 debut; Happy Camper, lives up to its name and is no exception to that rule. The band recently added two new members to supplement touring demands but the original lineup of lead vocalist/guitarist Mathew Terry and drummer Eugene Chung were the minds behind this project. Throughout the majority of this project the duo shows off their songwriting ability in an impressive way. These guys seem to have a knack for knowing what melodies would fit well in certain spots as well as being very conscious of when to play a little more conservatively and when to crank in the groovy instrumentals. Adding on to that, the tunes and instrumentals on almost every track here are consistently enjoyable, for example the intro track “Heart and My Car”, features some fun double snare hit beats, and some amped up vocal progressions toward the end of every refrain. Sweet tracks like these carry the flow of the album effectively up until the midpoint. Another huge highlight for me was the “Revvin’ My CJ-7”, which features the groups familiar sound but with an absolutely infectious instrumental hook. However, my main issue with this album comes toward the midway point where the songwriting punch not only dwindles a little, but becomes very repetitive. Tracks start to blend in and sound the same. For example, songs like “Seventeen”, are not by any stretch of the imagination offensive by nature of the bands familiar sound, but they sound like a culmination of all the other sounds on the album with nothing original or standout at all. Besides the notable “Lovesick”, an acoustic backed ballad done doo-wap style, this trend continues until we reach the far more interesting closer. Although I don’t think Summer Salt can make another album like this without it being entirely repetitive, I found Happy Camper to be a mostly-charming listen.
Comments