Act Up: The Camerawalls

STATUS Magazine – (April-May Issue 2009)
by Vanessa Balao

No, The Camerawalls is not a Britpop cover band. Yes, that’s a British inflection you hear though. No,  the vocalist used to be in that band but this is his band now.

The indie pop trio hasn’t been around very long but they’ve managed to make enough of an impression on the more discerning spectators of the local music scene. Vocalist Clementine  (Clem Castro), having come from the now defunct Orange & Lemons, appreciates that The Camerawalls is not surrounded by the kind of puffery his former band has been. He finds great value in playing gigs that, as he puts it, are “more intimate where people can connect to the music.”

Clementine, along with bassist Law Santiago (also formerly of Orange & Lemons) and Ian Sarabia on drums (who’d only really learned to play because of Clem’s cajoling) has fashioned a sound that can be lovingly described as a by-product of the Britpop era. There’s an appreciation of it being derivative, in a way. Every song is an apparent homage to perenially revered greats such as The Beatles or The Smiths.

Their debut album entitled Pocket Guide To The Otherworld (released under Clem Castro’s independent record label Lilystars Records) is a string of tracks that, albeit rather melodically uniformed all through out, are charming, lyrical, and really quite catchy. The tracks “Clinically Dead For 16 Hours” and “Changing Horses Midstream” are worth a preliminary listen.

If you’ve come down with the Brit fever yourself, pay a visit to http://www.thecamerawalls.com