Pink Cammies - Blood

The Pink Cammies were local legends in Geneseo, NY where I went to school. Where a lot of kids associated with our radio station would aim their sound in unique directions with lo-fi punk and surf rock bands, the Pink Cammies just wanted everyone to have a great time. At least that's what they said, I mean Brad loved art rock, and Jeff was a composition major responsible for the intricate chord structures in the songs, and Russell was the most opinionated kid at the radio station, with a taste for european electronic music, but it was an awareness of these exciting musical worlds that allowed the Pink Cammies to transcend the regular idea of what "pop" is supposed to be. Also, the broken drum machines and keytar made things a lot more fun.

With its cartoonish gore imagery and unstoppable melodies, "Blood" was always my favorite Pink Cammies song, but it was not included on their extremely limited EP, Game OVER, BABY, as they never finished recording it. And when school ended, so did the band. So when I got ahold of some solid computer software a year ago, I called the guys, and asked if they still had the tracks lying around. I spent the next month mixing my favorite Pink Cammies song, as poppy as I knew how.

The magic moment for me happens, well all over, but especially at the end of the third verse, where instead of building with added vocals and synths as in the previous verses, the quiet sets in. Brad is practically moaning:

Now I'm dead, dismembered and lying in a heap;
Gouged away at my eyes, girl, but I can see you weep;
Oh, tonight I think that we should just -- go to sleep.

You feel for a second that it may be over, but you know that this band wouldn't let you down like that -- not without some fireworks! As soon as the last gentle line is delivered, the rock and roll guitar leaps out of bed and rushes to duty, and we reach the apex of the track, where Brad howls:

But your silence is the twist of the knife;
I don't care if you take my blood just save my life!

Guitars and synths crash back in, and the song comes to its dramatic conclusion. It's pure magic, with all the right pieces and perfectly flowing lyrics. It's one of the best constructed pop songs I have ever heard. Pink Cammies are dead; long live the Pink Cammies.