Not to be confused with the Glasgow Twee-Pop band of the same name, Camera Obscura were a short-lived San Diego post-hardcore band for whom To Change the Shape of the Envelope was their lone full-length.

While in line with fellow San Diego post-hardcore acts, GoGoGo AirHeart & The VSS, Camera Obscura’s use of keyboards in creating their brand of hardcore was more prominent, and probably closest in line with Milemarker’s seminal and better known Frigid Forms Sell, released the same year. If you can imagine the guitar drive of Fugazi with the almost danceable, spastic bounce of the Fall, that was Camera Obscura in a nutshell.

I haven’t actually thought of Camera Obscura in almost a decade, but release of the Glasgow band of teh same name’s new album made me want to hear the band again. This was truly some of the best and one of the sadly over-looked albums of the late 90s, early 2000s post-hardcore scene. I unfortunately don’t know too much about the band or what became of the members besides that shortly after breaking up some members reformed under the name Champagne Kiss and released Dancing In the Pocket of Thieves (2001), yet another great album in much of the same vein as Camera Obscura.

Camera Obscura - To Change the Shape of the Envelope

- My Pal the Crook