Some performers never make a bigger splash than with their first record, a situation that
the Ramones and
De La Soul know all too well. If that's the case, though, said musicians had better make sure that debut is a doozy.
Aztec Camera, or more specifically,
Roddy Frame, falls squarely into this scenario, because while he has doggedly plugged away ever since with a series of what are, at times, not bad releases,
High Land, Hard Rain remains the lovely touchstone of
Frame's career. Very much the contemporaries of such well-scrubbed Scottish guitar pop confectionaries as
Orange Juice, but with the best gumption and star quality of them all,
Aztec Camera led off the album with "Oblivious," a mini-masterpiece of acoustic guitar hooks, lightly funky rhythms, and swooning backing vocals. If nothing tops that on
High Land, Hard Rain, most of the remaining songs come very close, while they also carefully avoid coming across like a series of general sound-alikes.
Frame's wry way around words of love (as well as his slightly nasal singing) drew comparisons to
Elvis Costello, but
Frame sounds far less burdened by expectations and more freely fun. References from Keats to
Joe Strummer crop up (not to mention an inspired steal from
Iggy's "Lust for Life" on "Queen's Tattoos"), but never overwhelm
Frame's ruminations on romance, which are both sweet and sour. Musically, his capable band backs him with gusto, from the solo-into-full-band showstopper "The Bugle Sounds Again" to the heart-stopping guitar work on "Lost Outside the Tunnel." Whether listeners want to investigate further from here is up to them, but
High Land, Hard Rain itself is a flat-out must-have. ~ Ned Raggett