Cameron is the self-titled debut album from sisters Barbara and Victoria Cameron. Veterans of the Nova Scotia music scene (Tori is a member of Floodland and The Townes Heroes, and both sister are members of the now defunct Pink Thunder), the pair are stretching out on their own with 12 tracks of solid pop-punk produced by Slowcoasters‘ Brian Talbot.
If Pink Thunder had it’s roots in 70’s lo-fi , then Cameron sheds that skin in favour of more modern influences. Listening to the album I am reminded of bands like The Cardigans on tracks such as ‘Hard To Breathe’, ‘Not Going Home’, or lead single ‘It’s Not Me’. Then there’s tracks like the hard-driving ‘Enemy’ that is equal parts Joan Jett and Tom Petty (with an intro straight out of an early Black Sabbath record).
This is pop music at the end of the day, and like good pop music, the melodies are infectious and full of hooks. The album proves this right out of the gate with ‘You Got Me’. With it’s dense electric guitars, thumping kick drum and reed thin vocals, it lets the listener know straight away what we’re in for. There are some clever lyrics too. ‘See Game Over’‘s biting declaration “you spike your hair like a hollywood soldier” or ‘Not For Me’‘s admission “I don’t know what I ever saw in you”.
“It’s something that organically came together over the last number of years, between Tori, Brian and I,” says Barbara Cameron about their debut album. “We took twelve raw demos, cleaned them up a bit and made an album we hoped people could rock out to.”
All told, these two sisters have churned out an impressive debut that is sure to find it’s place on the East Coast landscape.