Camp Cope
Camp Cope

It’s all within the first moments of «Done»: Kelly’s bass line, which intersects at more than one point with what Kim was tracing back when she was in the Pixies, when Kelly wasn’t even born yet, and even if she plays the bass and the bass is the rhythm section, Kelly is the soloist of the group, the one endowed with talent and musical flair, perhaps she studied, but it seems more like a natural gift rather than something artificially cultivated; the minimal guitar riff woven by Georgia, Georgia who doesn’t even give a solo, and her voice that shifts from painful lament to angry scream, also yielding to a vocalization that fits in there little or none and she still manages to make it work; the raw sound of the drums beaten by Sarah, she seems like the one with fewer talents, but she is outgoing and acts as the spokeswoman, even for the other two.

«Done» is the track that opens the self-titled debut of Camp Cope and this little record exists especially, if not exclusively, thanks to the support of 5,000 and more fans who contributed to the fundraising that Georgia, Kelly, and Sarah – that is, Camp Cope from Melbourne – set up; therefore, on the dedicated Bandcamp page, a long list of supporters unrolls and it testifies to an unexpected success.

5,000 supporters and, of course, the three of them, contributing a lot personally; and perhaps it’s true that Courtney Barnett paved the way for them, but they deserve great credit for not settling for that cliché, reworking the Barnett style into a decidedly more alt-lofi-wave version, a jumble of labels that somehow reflects how Camp Cope sounds.

And like Barnett, Georgia too, who is somewhat the reason for existence and the soul of the group, has a strong folksy sentiment, and the most beautiful thing, even more than «Done», she brings out at the end, that «Song for Charlie» that is almost seven minutes of just guitar and voice, simple, clean, and linear but which entangle me in an inextricable way; and it almost seems suspect that, when she picks up the guitar and does it all on her own, it’s even better than when Kelley and Sarah have her back, or it's a sign that Georgia has charisma, just enough to resist the shyness and tension that are hinted at and eventually dissolve into a disarming smile and a restrained yet liberating laugh.

But what strikes me the most is seeing her when she sings, invariably with her eyes closed, and I imagine it’s because it’s as if she is singing her diary, what she wrote just for herself and then, at some point, decided to share; and yet, at least for me, when I confess it’s easier with my eyes closed, not looking at who is in front of me, their reaction, like when I confessed my sins to the priest and the grate blocked the view, I knew very well who was behind that grate but not seeing him helped the confession; I think that’s why, when she sings, Georgia always keeps her eyes closed and then, as soon as she finishes the last verse, she opens them and smiles, as if she’s taken a weight off; not like Jim Reid who turned his back to the audience for show, maybe he still does it, I don’t know, it's been a long time since I followed Jesus & Mary Chain, it doesn't seem contrived, maybe I'm wrong, but it makes her feel close.

Moreover, Georgia knows how to write stories, she writes them well and includes much of her still young life, and this is one of those records I feel like recommending listening to accompanied by reading the lyrics; in the first days, I was struck by the beauty of Georgia’s voice and the music that Camp Cope builds around it; then, the lyrics became essential to uncover facets that otherwise would have remained in the shadows, insecurity and disillusion, disenchantment and bitterness, fragility, which perhaps come from having seen too much in too little time or maybe are nothing special but just the symptom of Georgia’s youth and many others like her, who, however, keep their state of mind inside.

Instead, Georgia knows how to turn those stories into songs, which certainly are not masterpieces, but in this record, there are nevertheless many small truly beautiful things: besides «Done» at the opening and «Song for Charlie» at the closing, I limit myself only to those I can now not do without, the final tempo change that transforms «West Side Story» from a modest ballad to almost a riot grrrl-style invective and the proud stride of «Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams» and I’ll stop here, because there’s also a new record to listen to – «How to Socialise and Make Friends» – as soon as I can free myself from the grip of this one.

For me, a wonderful surprise.