Summer Camp rolled through DC in mid-February, playing a show at U Street Music Hall that delighted listeners with some sunny California teen-pop, which complimented an unusually warm winter. Duo Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey followed Ghost Beach’s performance (band name obviously pulled from an online indie band name generator) with aplomb, equipped with a keyboard and guitar, complemented by a live drummer.
Someone might as well have been blowing glitter-filled bubbles throughout the audience, because the sounds from the stage were simultaneously sweet and buoyant. Summer Camp’s performance was like the sun peaking through the cracks of the cavernous basement that is U Street Music Hall; it just brightened up the entire place.
Sankey’s vocals are powerful and dominate the stage. At time,s I wondered to myself if the constant duet between Sankey and Jeremy was even necessary because her stage presence is so strong. Sankey’s vocals are soulful with Beth Ditto’s of The Gossip’s attitude, but simultaneously delicate and lovely, as Harriet Wheeler’s vocals in the English band The Sundays.
It’s no wonder Nylon have a bandcrush: the music is polished, the vocals are strong, and the duo is adorable.The entire set is energized by rollicking dance beats, as their latest album Welcome to Condale is laden with ’80s synth-pop inspiration, although the song structure of “Brian Krakow” (a reference to a character from My So Called Life) is appropriately riddled with ’90s pop influence.
Regardless, they peppered the set with reverb-heavy tracks off of their 2010 Young EP, satisfying listeners such as myself who very much wanted to hear “Ghost Train” (which also appears on Welcome to Condale).
As it’s pointed out in this Pitchfork review that I actually agree with, for once, much in the same way that indie-pop’s lifeblood is its relationship with the past, Summer Camp’s collection of songs are full of nostalgic references, appropriated effectively, resulting in the immediate satisfaction one expects from pop music.
