Album Profile: The Campbell Apartment

There are few sounds in rock music as innately thrilling as the luscious crunch of an over-driven amp, and the Campbell Apartment know it. Though one could imagine their quirky songs and deadpan singing being backed by detuned Fenders (think Modern Lovers), their new album, “In,” has many of the tunes pillared by Les Paul riffage, and the results are pretty electrifying.

The album wastes no time getting started, with the first four tracks all employing feel-good vocal hooks, walls of growling guitars, and more geeky enthusiasm than you could find at a Star Wars premiere. Some of the credit for these songs’ success belongs to the lead guitar work of guest-guitarist Jody Porter, who also produced the album. Like Lyle Workman (of Frank Black’s Catholics) and Robert Quine (heard on Richard Hell’s “Blank Generation” and Matthew Sweet’s “Girlfriend”), Porter plays searing melody lines with passion and proficiency, elevating the music, not himself. He does a fine job producing as well, tempering some of the music’s grandeur with flubs and mid-song banter.

The album is more than just a guitar-fest though, and side 2 features some gentler songs set to slower tempos. “I’ll Never Know,” a reflective ballad, and “There Goes the Sun,” a hazy soft-rock number, give the album balance with their warm instrumentation and colorful arrangements. The album closes with the Pavement-like “That's All There Is.” The song sways comfortably, only to be jostled by occasional dissonance and rhythmic accents. It makes for a charming end to an album that most will like, and some may love.

- Ira Rinn

www.thecampbellapartmentband.com

The Campbell Apartment by CampbellApartment

The Campbell Apartment is the brainchild of Russian-born artist and Renaissance lad Ari Vais, who modeled the band after lo-fi anti-heroes like Guided By Voices and The Replacements. After years in New York City, Vais moved west in 2009 to San Francisco where he was joined by New York guitar rock legend Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne). Prior to this, Ari performed with such bands as The Pelicans (see Queer Eye for the Straight Guy Season 2, Episode 13) and Humbert, and used to have a solo acoustic residency at London’s legendary 12 Bar Club in Tin Pan Alley.