Second albums, to put it lightly, are a bitch. It's true in the mainstream rock world, for sure, and only slightly less so in the indie world. There's pressure to live up to your brilliant first album (or at least, your pretty cool first album), and a fumble can make a lot of people not bother with the third, if there is one. Now, couple that kind of intense scrutiny with the fact that your band's been pigeonholed into a genre that gets kicked like a redheaded stepchild by every music reviewer under the sun -- what the hell can you do? Well, in a perfect world, you reinvent yourself, but let's be honest: how many bands/people can do that, beyond U2, Prince, and maybe Madonna? (Sting does not count, by the way.)
Between those two poles, Camber've hit the middle ground with their own second album. Anyway, I've Been There still has plenty of melodic sweetness, particularly in singer Barry Lott's Jeremy Enigk-esque singing style, but instead of throwing out another album's worth of rock-out tortured love songs, guitars cranked all the way, they opt to be more minimal and quiet (ex.: album closer "Home Movies"). What's more, they throw in some really pretty different, rough-and-ragged sounds among the pretty stuff, coming closer to Jawbox at several points ("Punching Out," "Sad One") than Sunny Day Real Estate or their kin. Sharp, angular guitar lines balance out beautiful melodies and pained vocals, the odd-sounding notes pushing through and counterbalancing the sweetness. The end result? Well, I'm no expert, but I wouldn't call this "emo," or any derivative of it. What it is is a darned decent rock album, with some really good, passionate songs floating around on it. The moral of the story? Even a little bit of reinvention can go a long way. (JH)
(Deep Elm Records -- P.O. Box 36939, Charlotte, NC. 28236; http://www.deepelm.com/)