I hate to say it, but synthpop is getting old, again. I feel like every other self-identifying “indie” band honors that hit-or-miss period of the 1980s with their own entrances into the arena of synth-laden bubble gum pop. Summer Camp is the latest of such acts, though I admit I find them punchier than the other youngsters. Welcome To Condale, Summer Camp’s adolescence-reminiscent debut album, features lots of clapping, clips from 1980s teenage camp movies (Weird Science, Say Anything) and spunky female vocals put against almost deafening synthetic roars. Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey channel St. Vincent’s Strange Mercy and The Pipettes’ first album here, but never manage to impress at all like their predecessors.

“Better Off Without You” opens with its unmistakably pop-inflections. With the goofy guitar twang of a hook and its the young love vocal dramatics, this could easily come on the soundtrack of a wink-filled modernizing of Grease, or a poor high school student’s Cry Baby. Actually, much of the album sounds like a musical about brats or packs thereof: “Brian Krakow” would fit for the prom or disco scene guest starring Billy Idol while “I Want You” could be the music of the protagonist racing down the road to the story’s overemotional climax. But I’ve never been one for watching dancing Puerto Ricans and an antagonist white gang brandishing switchblades.

But, aside from the theatricals, it’s so many other shades of, well, gay. The monologue-esque diva whines (e.g. “Nobody Knows You”) and the insipid duo songs (“1988″) invite some eye-rolling and even some cringing. I don’t have fond memories of high school antics and self-absorbed crushing so very little of this speaks to me. “Ghost Train” is probably the best track and even there oddly dated chimes distract from its spookiness.

2 / 5 bars

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Summer Camp – Nobody Knows You by the Pop Sucker

I Want You by Summer Camp