BC Camplight: Hide, Run Away (2005)
If you combine the piano pounding sounds of Ben Folds, melodies reminiscent of Bacharach and Nilsson, and the wacked-out sensibilities of post-Pet Sounds Brian Wilson you begin to close in on the coordinates of Philadelphia-based songwriter Brian Christinzio, a.k.a. BC Camplight.
Hide, Run Away is lyrically dark at times, but wrapped in appealing melodies of the stick-in-your-head variety. On a few tracks the Wilson admirer Christinzio determinedly emulates the sonics and instrumentation of Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys.
Leadoff track “Couldn’t You Tell” is a Bacharach-flavored lounge-y bossa nova (in a good way) that pretty much sets the lyrical tone on the album’s first line:
And if you offer me a second chance/then I would quickly need another
“Emily’s Dead To Me” finds the singer reassuring the object of his affection that another girl is no longer her rival–the phrase and song given a dark twist once it’s revealed he’s talking to that other girl’s mom.
BC Camplight’s follow-up featured the same cheerful melodies, twisted sentiments–and another bizarre album cover.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/11/04/songs-you-may-have-missed-499/
See also: Songs You May Have Missed #683 | Every Moment Has A Song (edcyphers.com)
Listen to: “Couldn’t You Tell”
Listen to: “Oranges In Winter”
Listen to: “Blood And Peanut Butter”
Every Moment Has A Song 