Albums

BC Camplight - Blink Of A Nihilist

Paul Cook 08/06/2007

Rating: 2.5/5

Gently melancholic and at times unusually mystifying, the trance-like electronics weaved through BC Camplight's 'Blink of a Nihilist' are a strange addition to the traditional twinkle of the piano keys and solidity of the bass line. This album boasts consistency and uniqueness to boot but however much Time magazine boasts Brian Christinzio's brilliance it fails to show.

Consistency is this albums' shining achievement. The fine line between consistency and monotony is often confused but 'Blink of a Nihilist' is consistent in style, genre and quality and Christinzio has definitely nailed his style with this. Unfortunately the praise ends here. The choruses are lack lustre and whereas a melodic, 'different' band like Arcade Fire conjure and encapsulate with slowly soaring choruses and confident ingenuity, BC Camplight never seems to reach it. The shame is that this album disappoints because as with Tiny Dancers and Arcade Fire the talent is clearly there but unlike his prospering young rivals BC Camplight can not seem to harness it.

With elements of everything from barbershop to ambient indie and so on, 'Blink of a Nihilist' features some nice tracks but none of them jump out and glow with brilliance. Many of the tracks on the album such as 'The Hip and the Homeless', 'Lord I've Been on Fire' and 'The 22 Skidoo' amble gently along at their own pace, almost promising something worth waiting for, but then suddenly within an instant it's gone and we're again journeying along the melancholic path we are tired and aching from already.

Melody and vocals drive the album but with neither of these being the band's forte to say the least, 'Blink of a Nihilist' is missing something vital. Whether it's lacking passion or bravado or both, this album could have been a toe-tapper but instead it's a tired old boot of boring lifelessness.