Melodramatic 60s soul revivalism may be the dominant mainstream sound of the past couple of years, but indie types have been at it for ages.
Camera Obscura formed in Glasgow in 1996 (the same city and year as Belle & Sebastian), but are only now garnering anything like commercial success: their new album charted at number 32, some 93 places higher than their previous effort.
On this sh
owing, it is deserved through effort and staying power as much as songwriting.
Their time in the shadows has enabled them to hone their craft - resulting in a set of well-observed style and retrospection, but in which pretty much all the songs sound the same.
So it's almost always chord one for two bars, chord two for two bars, chord one for two bars, chord two for two bars, a third and fourth chord brought in for some variation, and then back to the same two chords.
It's a mellow, spacious, airy sound, with yearning, heartbroken vocals, and is very listenable; but it roused no rabble at the Assembly.
They are certainly more interesting to look at than many of their peers, with indie-cutesy singer Tracyanne Campbell and rather more 80s-style Carey Lander on keyboards in front of a gaggle of ageing, respectable-looking men.
But although they never bored, they rarely excited.
Peter Ormerod
Verdict: Stylish, but samey
