Alive on Departure by Instant Camera

The disc mastered by Kevin Mcmahon at The Walkmen's Marcata Studios in lower east Manhattan. "Alive on Departure" was released late spring of 2005 on the bands own Wall to Wall Records label.

Lyrically, the album explores the tension and fear that complicates daily American life. Subjects such as paranoia, isolation, and an overall awareness of society losing itself are clearly present within the three minute blasts that populate the album.

"Rejoice indeed. It's nervy, it's speedy. It's a swift slap to the chops combined with the underlying fear that your attacker has a deadly skin-transferred virus. It's not just alive on departure, it's positively kicking. "

-Stylus Magazine

"Their sound is masterful, and even if you aren't riding the recent wave of eighties inspired rock you will be sure to find something to admire on this album. Whether it be their eccentric zombie-like kook or skill for writing panged tracks, there is no doubt Instant Camera have brought some largely generic yet stunningly sui generis works (though that may seem largely contradictory) to the industry table."

-FasterLouder.au

"They have made a new wave album that isn't a new wave album, and the launching pad for a post-post-punk revolution."

-Treblezine

"Categorizing Instant Camera as post-post-punk fits best, because it's a new genre without precedents. Until now."

-PlaybackSTL

"Instant Camera is another sign that pop music trends have finally cycled back and recombined to align with my tastes. The same parts of punk and pop that made The Pixies possible, that spawned the angular marxist disco of Gang of Four, have returned in the form of Instant Camera. Too much hyperbole? Perhaps. Nevertheless, the wonderfully raucous and noisy Alive On Departure deserves your attention. Among my favorite tracks are "Terrorvision" and "Style Over Substance Abuse," which has more than its fair share of late '70s British influence." (SJM)

-Impact Press

"A track that stands out from the records passive-aggressive arrangement is Working Class Zero. Fans of My Bloody Valentine should dig the finely-textured guitar work on this shoegazer number. Another oddity is the closing track, Hearing is Disbelieving. In this one, the band sets the prosaic narrative from the earlier songs to a score of demented circus music.

For a self-released record from a band that has only been writing songs for three years, Alive on Departure is a solid piece of music. Check it out."

-Left Off the Dial

"In Orwell's 1984, Winston Smith's tormentor told him that if he wanted a vision of the future, he would give him one: "imagine a boot stomping on a human face; forever." I thought that the most shocking image of interminable suffering I'd ever encountered, but Instant Camera gives that a run for its money in depicting a world of people ground down by the various machinations of their everyday lives; existing in a state of eternal ennui yet gripped with paranoiac delusions over unseen foes, perhaps real but just as likely imagined. Many works of art have depicted the uneasy times of the world's periods of instability, and Alive On Departure is another good example. It was also the best of my last lot of CDs to review and still has a chance of finding its way into my "10 best" list for the year, based largely on the merits of standout tracks "Another Suggestion (For White Noize)", "Shadowman" and "Existing to Cease."

-Hybrid Magazine

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