- After a very well received EP last year, Sydney's Cameras return with a debut album laden with more of that thickly textured, darkly indie-rocking sound. It almost seems strange that a sound you can describe that way could be touted by so many as something which was going to be big. Yet it's definitely a thing - one of the first things that occurred to me when I heard that EP. I guess it's the way they strike a balance. Sure, with that weighty guitar rumble it's almost shoe-gaze, but not quite. Yes they're dark, but they don't sacrifice good and simple indie sound in the service of their scarier aspirations. For instance, they've got a healthy dose of reverb on everything they do, but unlike a very similar sounding outfit I was thinking of earlier today - Esben And The Witch - Cameras don't go completely overboard with it and scare the crap out of half their potential listenership; there's also no doubt that this sort of thing has a big potential to attract crowds of ears. Here in Oz just look at the Jezabels flouncing their way across the country right now. Actually as much I enjoy the Jezabels hooks, they can be a little repetitive (more like the Jezabel's 'hook') and it got me thinking a little bit about Cameras. Anyone who knows that first Cameras EP, back before they signed to (the rather excellent) Speak N Spell will see that we get most of it again on In Your Room and right up the front of the record too. In fact, the lead track on the EP, Polarise, is the first single off the album. The first new track 'I Know' with it's pounding indie-rock beat and glissing, eerie vocals from Eleanor Dunlop even sounds quite a bit like a reprise of Polarise. A bit further down the line another new track with vocals from Fraser Harvey drops the tempo a bit without toning down the intensity and makes him sound a bit more like Bowie than before. That can only be a good thing. Still the more I listen to Eleanor Harvey's stuff the more I wish she'd try a few melodies that are a bit different from the one she likes to do variations on over the course of this record. Hey, I do like the album's title track, which has no words but a scintillating, shimmering sound of ... what is that, a synth? A guitar effect? Whatever, it endlessly descends into a quiet vocalise and synth murk that I enjoyed quite a lot. If it sounds like I'm getting a bit cheesed with the rest of the album, well I'm not really. If In Your Room gets a little bit repetitive, it is a very listenable repetition. I think that's the key, too, if audiences can take a very similar 'sticking to the tried and true' from The Jezabels, I bet they can take a crapload of Cameras. Eesh that isn't very elevated, don't mind me - the least I can say is I'm still predicting big things for this band.