Camera Obscura sharpens its focus
The chipper first track on Camera Obscura's new album is called ``Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken." The title is a pop aficionado's inside joke of sorts, a cheeky reply to fellow Scottish pop romantics Lloyd Cole & the Commotions' 1984 query, ``Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?" Taking two decades may seem like a long time to answer a question, but Camera Obscura -- a sextet just hitting its stride after spending 10 years in the pop music trenches -- is used to waiting. For success, especially.
All that may change with the release of the Glasgow band's third album, ``Let's Get Out of This Country," out on Merge Records. It's a disc of romantic bliss and delicious heartache, dressed up in silver-spangled melodies, roller-rink keyboards, and zesty brass and string accents -- a frisky sound indebted to the girl groups of the mid-'60s and to fellow Scots Belle & Sebastian (B&S singer Stuart Murdoch helped produce Camera Obscura's debut). The band just completed a well-received UK tour and is undertaking a US tour that brings it to Great Scott on Thursday .
``We're all delighted with [``Country"] and think it's the best thing we've done so far," says guitarist Kenny McKeeve , on the phone from Glasgow. ``In some ways, it's the first proper record."
The reason, McKeeve says, is two fold: The band's 2001 debut, ``Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi," wasn't even released in the United States, and its excellent follow-up, 2004's ``Underachievers Please Try Harder," suffered somewhat, he believes, from the band producing it themselves.
``I think, absolutely, the landmark in our development, and the biggest change, was the decision to work with a producer," McKeeve says. Enlisting an outside ear and perspective, he claims, was essential ``to kick the band forward."
Last autumn, Camera Obscura traveled to Stockholm to work on the disc with producer Jari Haapalainen , who's helmed albums by the Concretes, Ed Harcourt, and International (Noise) Conspiracy, among others. McKeeve calls the experience ``fantastic " and says Haapalainen helped expand the band's sound without miring its music with the too-slick sheen he feared might result from working in a professional studio.
Still intact are lead singer Traceyanne Campbell's sardonic, softly lacerating lyrics about fleeing friends and lovers (``Come Back Margaret"), and affectionate valentines to pop's past (``Dory Previn" is an homage to the cult singer-songwriter once married to composer Andre Previn). Although the title track is its own sunny day of perfect possibilities, a lovely wistfulness tugs at the material.
``I think the thing that was missing from the last records were an audience," McKeeve says, apparently only half-joking. ``Obviously, there's plenty of work to be done, but in terms of our UK tour, this is the first time we've been able, and been asked, to play as much from the new album as we can. Everyone knew the new songs, so we've been given a real boost of confidence."
SWEET HONEY AND THE ROCK: Starting in July, you can pick up all your local fave raves at Honeyspot, the Jamaica Plain arts and pop culture boutique (48 South St., 617-524-2444) managed by ex-Fuzzy singer-guitarist Hilken Mancini . Honeyspot first opened its doors last year and drew raves for its eclectic collection of repro tin toys, mounted bugs and butterflies, vintage clothing, and more. Now, it's making space for what Mancini promises will be an equally impressive collection of CDs, seven-inch singles, and assorted merchandise by local record labels such as Bodies of Water Arts and Crafts, Mister Records, Teenbeat, Kimchee, Archenemy, and Q Division, among others.
A party to celebrate the shop's new music wares is scheduled for July 15 from 7 to 9 p.m. Later, the party moves to the Midway Cafe for a show featuring Magic People, Z.W.A., Fur Cups for Teeth, and Eggplont .
BITS & PIECES: Tonight Echo and the Bunnymen are at the Paradise. Count Zero top s a great local bill at the Middle East Upstairs that includes Baby Ray, Mascara, and Gene Dante and the Future Starlets. The Charms are at T.T. the Bear's with headliners the Ark . Slim Jim & the Mad Cows are at the Abbey Lounge with Milk and Honey (featuring Mr. Airplane Man's Margaret Garrett). The Beatings are at P.A.'s Lounge. Tomorrow The RX Bandits are at Axis. The Futureheads are at the Paradise with French Kicks. The Bon Savants are at T.T. the Bear's. Sunday Panic! At The Disco is at Avalon. We Are Scientists are at the Paradise. Monday The Tim Gearan Band is at Toad. Wednesday The Court and Spark is at T.T. the Bear's. Natalia Zuckerman is at Toad. Thursday Bent, a celebration of queer indie-rock, is at the Middle East Upstairs. Club d'Elf is at the Lizard Lounge. 
