After reading very encouraging recent comments from funoka, cherguevarra, and MrHuman, I believe that, AT LAST, I can swoon a little about Aztec Camera. I’ve loved this band since my introduction to them, which occurred via a little black and white photo of a cute boy with floppy hair that my sister had glued to the dashboard of her car. Ah, my first gaze at Roddy Frame.

High Land, Hard Rain is a great album: lo-fi emotive pop with clever, besotted lyrics and alternating jangly and classical guitar. Later albums get slicker, cornier, and/or sadder. However, the excellent track or two on each record kept my faith in the band alive. The final Aztec Camera album, Frestonia, reverted back to a lo-fi sound, but this time with more of a jazz influence.

Please join me in watching this early performance of “We Could Send Letters.” It’s lyrics used to make me cry. Luckily, in this video, I was distracted from my reminiscences of an old boyfriend by the matching tracksuits, the ridiculous hair, and the weird now-apparent resemblance of Roddy Frame to Paul Dano.

The final charge, at the 3:40 mark, continues to make me love this band.

P.S. – Mr. Royale just shared his own NSFW memories about this album indicating that I’m not the only one who had romantic associations with Aztec Camera’s music. (Will High Land, Hard Rain beat out Avalon as the most nookie-worthy album of the ’80s?) AND that the album was just re-released!