Campfire OK photo by Jason Tang

Campfire OK seemed to come out of nowhere with an incredibly well played and passionate debut earlier this winter, Strange Like We Are. Its title track and others have been spun quite a bit on KEXP, the band has been given lots of attention by bloggers (most notably NPR, which did a feature on their excellent music and the meaning of the first album's intriguingly anthemic title track).

They are set to play Sunday, July 24 at the Block Party, at Neumos (21+), between 4:15 and 4:45 p.m. I email-spoke with the mysterious frontman and primary songwriter for Campfire OK, and we got all happily tangled together in the cyber-vines. He straightened out the bacon wrapped around the enigmas of their line-ups, college campus banning, and the meaning behind that darned catchy tune again. Imagine how much fun it will be when I get to chat with him in person at CHBP 2011!

TIG: As a noted "Capitol Hill band" is it a particular thrill to be playing the Block Party this year? Or is it more like just back porch fun for you at this point?

Mychal: We are all very excited, and feel honored to play the Block Party. Even though I live on Capitol Hill it definitely does not feel like back porch fun. It is one of those things that, when you first book the show, you are happy about it. Then as time passes, and you see how large of a number of people go to it, read about it, and research the bands playing, you feel more and more grateful. We are super pumped to be doing it.

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Campfire OK's debut album Strange Like We Are is a smorgasbord of tasty sounds, slowly-simmered songs, and crackling good production.

About a half dozen well-trained and eager-to-please musicians (known mysteriously only by the last names Van Der Krimp, Dagworth, Hannigan, Goodweather, Exworthy, and Appleby) juxtapose delicate picked and plonked, emotionally earnest slow jams with clanging hoe-down choruses. Its twelve tracks feature a whole lot of rocketing and crescendoing 88s (piano), everybody-join-in-percussion, and even a softly glowing free jazz lilt between the occasional barbed chorus.

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The top Northwest releases of 2004 as voted on by you, our readers (see winners #50-41 here).

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