Aztec Camera: High Land, Hard Rain
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Among my brother’s records was an intriguing 7” single with quaint, historical drawings of people in kilts undertaking various activities such as shooting a rifle, curling, and hiking. It was the only single in his collection with a cover and it stood out. So, early in my exploration of his collection in 1982, at the impressionable age of twelve, I put on this single and gave it a listen. Side one was the single, “Just Like Gold,” and after opening with the ringing of cymbals, launched into a sublime and bright pop song. Full of hooks, light accents of both electric and acoustic guitars, it was a tidily perfect little tune. Yet, the B-side was even better with the track, “We Could Send Letters.” Picking up the energy a little, the song was scattered with quick strumming acoustic guitar and a high energy finish. During a time of brash electro-R&B pop, heavy metal, and new wave popularity, the earthy acoustic sound was a refreshingly separate take. The single’s cover announced, “The Sound of Young Scotland,” and I was hooked on the wonderful sound of Aztec Camera.
This is my copy (front is on left, back is on right) of the 7” single of Aztec Camera’s Postcard Records release, “Just Like Gold.” One of many cherished inheritances from my brother. If I knew this was to become hard to find (the song isn’t on Spotify) I might have taken better care of the jacket. The vinyl still plays clean.
Formed in 1980 in the town of East Kilbride, a thirty-minute drive south of Glasgow, the band came together when sixteen-year-old singer/guitarist Roddy Frame and drummer David Mulholland broke away from the band, Neutral Blue. Joining with Campbell Owens on bass, they formed Aztec Camera and began building a profile in the Glasgow music scene, scoring a spot later in ’80 on, In and Out of Fashion, a compilation cassette released through a collaboration of Pungent Records and Fume Magazine. This brought them to the attention of the local label, Postcard Records, formed in 1979 by Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins to help promote and release the music of local post-punk bands, Orange Juice and Josef K. Though the label only lasted two years and issued just eleven singles, their small roster of bands and indeed, the tagline, “The Sound of Young Scotland,” managed to put Postcard into the vaunted annals of UK indie history. Aztec Camera issued two singles via Postcard, “Just Like Gold” and “Mattress of Wire,” both issued in 1981. The band further received a stamp of approval when NME included “Just Like Gold” in one of their renowned C-86 cassette compilations. Both singles reached the top ten in the UK indie charts, paving the way for the success of Aztec Camera’s first LP.
Campbell Owens, Roddy Frame, and David Mulholland
The band signed with Rough Trade Records in 1982 for the release of the single, “Pillar to Post,” which reached #4 in the indie chart. During this time Mulholland left and was replaced by John Hendry on drums, though by the recording of their LP, Dave Ruffy was credited on drums in addition to the album’s co-producer (along with John Brand), Bernie Clarke, on piano and organ. The album, High Land, Hard Rain, was released in 1983 and saw the band’s fortunes rise quickly. The next single was, “Oblivious,” which reached #1 in the indie chart and #47 in the main singles chart (it reached #18 later that year upon re-release), establishing Aztec Camera’s presence in the UK music scene. “Walk Out to Winter” was the third single from the LP and reached #3 in the indie chart, and along with the other singles helped propel the album to a #1 spot in the indie chart and #22 in the UK album chart. Though it only reached #129 in the US, the band managed attention in US college radio and alternative radio stations such as CFNY in Toronto, where the LP reached #17 on the station’s year-end list for 1983.
High Land, Hard Rain was the pinnacle of Aztec Camera’s musical career in terms of creativity and quality, all the more remarkable that it was written by Frame at the age of eighteen. This playlist is not a retrospective but instead focuses only on those first singles and that one, perfect album. There were a few more good singles, and two more are included in the YouTube playlist, “Deep & Wide & Tall,” and their biggest commercial achievement, the single, “Somewhere in My Heart,” both from the 1987 LP, Love. But the band evolved away from the organic sounds of their first works and played with a lighter, more pop oriented, and soft electronic sound of the ‘80s that lacked the energy and edge of that first album and lost the band into the sea of generic synth-pop of the 1980s. If Aztec Camera should be celebrated, and they should, the first album gives us plenty with which to work.
The LP kicked off with that career launching single, “Oblivious,” crafted with intent to be a hit song and delivered in spades. Crisp guitar and beats, funky bass, dreamy female backing vocals for that throwback vibe, and a bright-pop aesthetic, the tune hummed along its bouncing rhythms before one of those impeccable acoustic guitar interludes. Many pop songs lose their lustre over time or get mired in the personality of their time, but not this one, it’s timeless. Next up was, “The Boy of Wonders,” another propulsive pop song riding a wave of acoustic guitars. More melodic than the opener, its hooks further ensured you’d be sticking with the LP for the duration. The third track was the other standout single of the album, the now holiday season staple, “Walk Out to Winter.” Stepping it up a notch on the melodic approach and carried by catchy, strumming guitars, the tune didn’t put a step out of place, mandating head nods and toe taps. Next up, in the fourth slot, was the LP’s first ballad, “The Bugle Sounds Again,” which disappointedly did not include a bugle but did have some sort of distorted keyboard in its place. It delivered languorous mixes of intertwining guitars and Frame’s always lovely vocal. He wasn’t an outwardly impressive singer, but a perfect voice for matching the music, with consistent tone and resonance to compliment each song. The first side finished with an updated rendition of, “We Could Send Letters,” this time ending the album side with an extended interlude of its dreamy vibe underpinning wonderful flourishes of acoustic guitar, flitting with a flamenco accent to complement the indie-pop vibe.
Campbell Owens and Roddy Frame
Side two of High Land, Hard Rain continued the parade of excellence but couldn’t quite match the lofty heights of that flawless first side. Instead, it only had merely a great batch of tunes, the first being the album’s lead single, “Pillar to Post.” Quick and melodic, held aloft by more dreamy backing vocals, the sharp edges of its beat and guitar verses only made the chorus more transcendent to ride along. After the energetic start to the second side, things dropped to the album’s slowest point yet with the first half of the bluesy, “Release,” a song that perhaps provided a blueprint for Style Council’s My Ever Changing Moods LP. It was another lovely pop tune that grew out of a ballad into a peppy conclusion before handing things over to more acoustics and the intro of the third track, “Lost Outside the Tunnel.” More Flamenco accents in the guitar surrounded another excellent, dreamy pop composition. The fourth track slowed things again for another blues-pop tune, “Back on Board.” The chorus was a tailor-made ear worm for us pop-loving fans. The track’s fade-out blended with the intro of the final tune, “Down the Dip.” The short, all-acoustic album closer allowed Roddy Frame to provide one his most forceful vocal performances on the LP. For a great LP packed with memorable, catchy, energetic pop, it was a surprisingly subdued finish. Perhaps there was no better place to put this track?
The CD rerelease of the LP in 1991 tacked on three non-album tracks that were B-sides to the “Oblivious” and “Pillar to Post” singles, which took nothing away from the LP as they were all strong tunes. You’ll find these in the Spotify playlist as they’re included as part of the album.
The three singles issued from High Land, Hard Rain (L to R): “Pillar to Post,” “Oblivious” (this is the cover for the re-release, which came out also with a red background version), and “Walk Out to Winter.” I tried to research who the models were on the two covers, and whether they’re perhaps the same woman, but couldn’t find anything.
Roddy Frame spent time in New Orleans after High Land, Hard Rain, enlisting Mark Knopfler to produce the next album, 1984’s, Knife, their first major label release via WEA. While Campbell Owens remained on board for that album’s recording, before long Aztec Camera was simply a vehicle for Frame’s musical explorations as he moved on with hired hands for subsequent tours and releases. He remained situated in the US, focusing on American R&B and pop, and thus the migration of Aztec Camera’s sound away from styles that suited my tastes. Knife and the follow-up, 1987’s Love, both reached the UK top twenty and sold well, with the Bruce Springsteen inspired single, “Somewhere in My Heart,” reaching #3 in the UK singles chart. Three more LPs followed, Stray in 1990, Dreamland (recorded with Ryuchi Sakamoto) in 1993, and Frestonia in 1995 before the Aztec Camera name was retired and Frame continued under his own name as a solo artist.
Thinking of Aztec Camera, I can’t help but focus on that first single, discovered in my brother’s bedroom as a pre-teen, and then that wonderful album that helped establish a UK indie pop sound that would endure through to the early 2000s. The heavy mix of acoustic and electric guitars gave the band a unique sound for its time and helped launch generation after generation of bands crafting smart, catchy songs around straightforward arrangements of bright guitars, rich basslines, and propellent beats. If you’re listening to The Smiths, The Housemartins, The Lightning Seeds, early Coldplay, Travis, and many others, a line can be drawn back to the likes of Aztec Camera’s first album. High Land, Hard Rain belongs high on the list of top albums from the 1980s and, indeed, of the modern rock era.
