Campfire Girls inked a major-label record deal and made an album in less than a year. Such whirlwind events and the pressure of making it was sadly fueled by drugs, and the band's 2002 debut, Delongpre, was unfortunately overshadowed by such behavior. Inside the sadness and earnest desire of Delongpre was an eager bunch of friends yearning to make a solid post-grunge set of songs. Luckily,
Campfire Girls rose above the chaos just as quickly as they fell and took charge of their career. The end result is the polished sophomore effort,
Tell Them Hi. The 11-song collection is pure aggressive pop loaded with heavy life experiences and dark melodies. Dual guitar work from
Christian Stone and
Mike Semple reflects the band's surefire drive in making
Tell Them Hi as real as possible. Vocally,
Stone is confident and content in sharing personal misery ("Junkman," "Day Before"), for in the end there's clarity ("Homework," "Broken Tooth").
Campfire Girls are more aware the intricacies of production, and
Tell Them Hi is evident of the band's growth as musicians and as friends. Their punk-inspired formula may be looped into what's popular on a mainstream level, but who's to say that's bad?
Tell Them Hi is an honest record, and
Campfire Girls should be applauded for their willingness to get it right -- for themselves. ~ MacKenzie Wilson