Wow, how late are these?!!?!? Here is the first batch of report cards on acts from Campus A Low Hum, to be updated as my memory stops clouding over and I remember more of the acts that I saw.

A Dead Forest Index: A

One incredible find for me this year. Working on the spaces inbetween vocals / guitar / drums as well as the aforementioned instruments themselves, ADFI created these incredibly haunting tracks, vocals ranging from an almost Liars falsetto-ish delicateness to strained belting – the live looping kept everything interesting in terms of the creation of their tracks live, and the minimal drumming complemented the stark fucking bleakness of their tracks perfectly. Stunninggggg.

Bandicoot: B

The sketches have gone from their sets, it seems (thank god), replaced by a pretty amazing array of rap hits, from Soulja Boy to Big Dwayne (Yip. That one.) That being said, it almost feels like they need new moves for their live set – I can’t imagine their band’s longevity when almost every show includes moving of the drum kit and a rap breakdown in the middle of, or after, Silence is Golden. It’s still incredibly entertaining, I just hope they can keep it fresh for themselves and the crowd in the coming year – their camp sets hinted towards the opposite of that.

Bang Bang Eche: B+

It’s not their fault that their set got hammed, a broken sampler gave the crowd total blueballs treatment about one bar out from the drop in Fistful of Dollars, but in-band joke fights and a hyperactive / angry first half of the set satisfied the masses who were still out for partying (some even looked out for blood, FUCK YOU VIOLENT TOPLESS HACKS). For a camp which has stepped further away from guitar-based music than any camp prior, it was a pretty good ‘circle of life’ set to end campus on. If only technology hadn’t failed us all.

Batrider: A-

Whilst their barn set was the one with the blood on the guitar and the crowd of angry Jens Lekman haters, it was Batrider’s midday set in the pool which completely sold me. There’s something madly hypnotic in the sway of Sarah Chadwick as she built up the tension of their last track, a refrain of ‘Did you try to take me for a ride’ repeating over the course of what felt like five minutes, hanging in the air palpably before erupting into screams and metal brutality. New favourite old band. Not actually old though. More like ‘old’.

Brains: B+

The DDD influence is still obviously pretty hard to avoid when watching a Brains set, but they’ve taken on their own ragged sense of fun to their music. The rolling on the ground / animal hat combo seemed a little forced ‘we are a FUN noisy band OKAY’, but the performance as a whole totally justified the amount of exposure they’ve had over the last few months – now where the FUCK is Constant Love Forever??!?

Dan Deacon: F

Sure, his set was amazing. I have no problem saying that. But I resent that nerdy cream puff SO FUCKING MUCH for making me more exhausted than I have ever been in recent memory. I signed up for grape expectations. Not grievous bodily harm.

Dent May: A

I only caught his set at 1030am on the last day, but it was stellar. Taking cues from all your favourite 60s wireless radio beach hits, he crafts these amazing tongue-in-cheek odes to women, dance parties, alcoholism and the like, accompanied by someone who could only be a failed contestant in Fleet Foxes idol on perfect falsetto harmonies, breaking the Robin Pecknold mould only once to shriek out ‘SHRED IT MOTHERFUCKERRRRR’ pre Uke solo. I don’t think there is any better way to start the day than this.

DHDFDs: A+

Those early RHCP basslines seem to have been eschewed in favour of savage 80s noisepunk Bad Brains brutality, and there was even a Big Black cover in their set (thanks Bhan). So now, not only do DHDFDs put on the best show you’re likely to be scared by, their sound matches up perfectly. Name me one other band where you could witness a vocalist smashing his head on a 44 gallon drum, rolling it down the middle of an empty pool, surrounded by minions, before mooning the crowd, and, micless, screaming out the final verses of their set closer like some demonic nazi warlord. Seriously. Their singer out-Iggy’d Iggy.

Die! Die! Die!: A+

Valedictorians Die x3 showed everyone how it was done on the last night. The crowd edging ever closer throughout the whole set must have been pretty annoying for the band, but they countered it by throwing themselves into the crowd at every opportunity and basically just delivering a perfectly balanced set: Ashtray Ashtray and  Out of the Blue mixed in with a whole host of terrifyingly good new songs, capped off with a full stage invasion during an encore of Britomart Sunset. AND YOU THOUGHT THEY COULDN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THEY ALREADY WERE.

Dodos: A-

Slightly lower mark than they would otherwise have received solely because their new material is nearly as lacklustre live as it was on record, paling in comparison to the total total TOTAL bliss of Fools / Jodi / Park Song. Or maybe it was just the acid.

East Brunswick All Girls Choir: A-

The music on its own probably merits this band a slightly lesser grade (not that it’s bad, their take on Veilsy balladry is amazing – think Nux Vomica without the wanky posturing and silly hats), but their set was phenomenal. Drunken abuse of bandmates, intermittent cries of drunkedness. If you couldn’t smell the booze on them from the front few rows, you could definitely see it from anywhere in a 100m vicinity. Not that it was a bawdy mess- rather, it supplied EBAGC with a sloppy charm that brought their set from being a collection of noisy epics to being simply the perfect mess.

God Bows To Math: A

Savage, and funny. Easily the best banter of camp, and the mere fact that Jeremy Amos can wake up with a tube in his dick, come back to camp, play a 130pm set, and manage to rip on Gaywyre, Brooke Howard Smith, and certain incredible kids whilst delivering an insanely brutal set alongside his (ex-) bandmates is intimidating. So intimidating that I’m not going to dare giving a lower mark than an A for their set.

Golden Axe: A-

Whilst their set in Animal House was good but not great, it was in the pool where Golden Axe nailed it. Obscured by and silhouetted behind a massive landscape banner, their set consisted of constant instensity from the beats, Ibiza rave lasers, and instant coating of sweat, even from the very back of the room. Epileptics beware, Golden Axe have stepped up their game a millionfold, and they are coming to test the limits of yr sanity. Their Katy Perry cover still brings tears to my eyes.

Jens Lekman: A

Yeesh, didn’t he have a really slow start? I mean other than Black Cab, the acoustic half of the set was a total flop – moments of questionable cheesiness (beating the mic on his heart like a drum?), but as soon as the hits kicked in, complete with backing tracks via laptop, it was total swoon city. Opposite of Hallelujah / Postcard To Nina / Sipping on the Sweet Nectar / Into Eternity could almost have been his entire set and I’d have been happy. Cheesy, yes, but completely charming.

Nevernudes: A-

Even a set which was far from the best they have played managed to be thoroughly enjoyable in the pool. Ostentatious drama queen antics aside, watching a bearded streaker invade the stage to be mauled by the two vocalists before tearing through Socialite is one of those camp memories that will forever be burned into my retinae, for better or worse.

Ouch My Face: B

I’m not so sure about Ouch My Face now. Yes, they have their formula down, but expansion upon their Albini-esque slownoise might be a necessary next step to keep me interested. Last year it was amazing, but repeat viewings have made their shows last year seem all the more awesome for the shock factor – nobody knew who they were then. It’s probably just overexposure to their brutal live show, but seeing them at camp left me kinda numb. And not in a particularly good way.

Parking Lot Experiment: B-

Undeniably the most positive vibes of the whole camp. The problem is, I think the only thing they do more than smile and make everyone else smile is listen to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

The Ruby Suns: A-

Dodos syndrome. They reprised their role as 7pm party starters (and tropical disco masters) that they held last camp, only this time, the nice stage was swapped for the pool – complete with balloons, party poppers, one-piece swimsuits, and synchronised handclap gestures. Cranberry and Don’t Trust The Dusty Fruit held up incredibly well from the new album, but the rest fell short of moments like the transformation of Oh Mojave into a straight club banger. Even when it got a bit circle jerkish (more on this later), it was still one of the most fun sets of campus. Especially since it echoed their previous camp set so closely.

Signer: A

Totally cathartic, not the most ‘amping’ thing I saw at camp but the overwhelmingly positive side of chillbangers (look at my terrible neologisms up in here) kept me grinning for the entire show. Additional help from Dodos and Ruby Suns members lifted this from ‘really, main stage, 10.30pm?’ skepticism to gaping mouths and general happy flailing.

Signer vs Spring Break: C+

Fun, but we’d kinda seen it all before: between The Ruby Suns and Signers sets, all of these people had played together at least twice onstage already. It was fun enough, but the knowledge that Daedalus was playing at the prom and Bang Bang Eche were playing a renegade set was enough to stop me from staying too long. In the words of a veritable bangers DJ: ‘It’s just a Pitchfork circle jerk now!’.

So So Modern: B+

I feel like it’s a really good reversal for So So Modern that I can now be more excited for their album than for seeing them live – it used to be completely the other way around. Their performance of new tracks from the upcoming Crude Futures may not have had the spontaneity / reckless fun that used to be synonymous with their earlier material and shows, but comparing their pool set with their performances circa 2007, it’s impossible not to say that they are a far better band now. The set just missed…. something. Fun’s not quite it, but it’s close. I think I’m just going to have to come back to the spontaneity thing. Precise as fuck, though. And Berlin?! Easily the best buildup track they’ve ever done. The New Internationale got served.

Witch Hats: B

For one of the bands I was most excited about heading into camp, I wasn’t totally blown away by their performance. It was good, don’t get me wrong. I think maybe I set my expectations too high for them, maybe. Before I Weigh is still fucking mindblowing live though. Plus, bubbles during their set – was a weird juxtaposition, but getting moshy and popping bubbles worked surprisingly well.